Division 
Section 


c,\ 


THE 

PSALMODY  QUESTION 

AN  EXAMINATION 

OF 

THE  ALLEGED  DIVINE  APPOINTMENT 

OF 

THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS 

AS 

THE  EXCLUSIVE   MANUAL  OF  PRAISE 

BY 

The  Eev.  DAVID  FINDLEY  BONNER,  AM.,  D.D. 


"  Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly ;  in  all  wisdom 
teaching  and  admonishing  one  another  with  psalms  and 
hymns  and  spiritaal  songs."— Colossians  3 :  16. 


HANFORD  AND  HORTON 

MIDDLETOWN,  N.  Y. 

1908 


Copyright,  1908 
By  David  Findley  Bonneb 


PREFACE. 

In  a  way,  this  work  is  an  expansion  of  a  series  of 
articles  published  in  August — September,  1904,  in  The 
Westminster.    And  yet  it  is  more  than  this. 

In  those  articles  the  following  argument  was  only 
briefly  indicated.  Here  it  is  fully  stated.  There 
authorities  were  not  even  cited.  Here  they  are  freely 
quoted.  There  important  points  were  necessarily 
omitted.  Here  they  are  clearly  presented.  Then  the 
object  was  to  arrest  attention.  Now  it  is  to  produce 
conviction. 

The  time  seems  ripe  for  the  discussion  here  at- 
tempted. Fresh  interest  in  the  subject  of  Psalmody 
is  being  awakened;  and  a  movement  having  for  its 
object  the  pressing  of  the  claims  of  a  Davidic  Psalm- 
ody to  an  exclusive  place  in  the  church's  hymnody, 
has  been  inaugurated.  A  new  metrical  version  of  the 
Psalms  has  recently  been  published,  and  is  now  being 
perfected.  Two  large  and  enthusiastic  Psalmody  con- 
ventions have  recently  been  held;  and  a  volume  con- 
taining the  papers  presented  at  these  conventions  has 
just  been  issued. 

Our  United  Presbyterian  brethren  seem  disposed 
to  make  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Psalms  of  David  in 
the  worship  of  God  their  chief  distinctive  principle, 
and  to  give  to  its  maintenance  and  propagation  a 
corresponding  measure  of  devotion.^ 


'"In  providing  for  the  publication  of  these  convention  ad- 
dresses the  General  Assembly  had  more  in  mind  than  a  de- 
nominational interest.  There  was  the  further  purpose  to 
submit  them  to  the  serious  consideration  of  the  Christian 
Church  at  large."    Preface  to  "The  Psalms  in  Worship." 


iv  PREFACE. 

This  work  was  largely  written  before  the  writer 
knew  that  the  Psalmody  conventions  were  to  be  held. 
It  was  completed  and  ready  for  the  press  before  they 
met.  Pending  arrangements  for  publication,  how- 
ever, it  was  learned  that  the  proceedings  of  these  con- 
ventions were  to  be  published.  In  view  of  this  fact 
the  manuscript  was  laid  aside  till  the  book  should  be 
issued. 

This  book  has  now  been  published.  It  is  a  unique 
and  imposing  volume.  It  is  unique  because  of  its 
multiple  authorship.  Two  conventions  were  held — 
the  first  in  Pittsburg,  and  the  second  in  Chicago.  They 
were  held  about  a  fortnight  apart  in  November,  1905. 
The  same  themes  were  discussed  in  both  conventions, 
but  by  different  speakers.  Twenty-seven  topics,  cov- 
ering every  phase  of  the  Psalmody  question,  were  se- 
lected ;  and  each  topic  was  assigned  to  two  persons. 
Upon  these  topics  papers  were  to  be  prepared,  and  one 
complete  set  presented  at  each  convention.  The  re- 
sult is  this  book.  Aside  from  a  brief  preface  the  book 
contains  nothing  but  these  papers.  The  volume  is  im- 
posing because  of  its  size  and  comprehensiveness.  It 
contains  572  octavo  pages,  and  gathers  together  fifty- 
four  papers  by  as  many  different  writers. 

There  are  both  advantages  and  disadvantages  in 
such  authorship ;  and  this  volume  exhibits  some  of 
both  of  them.  For  the  most  part  the  discussion  is 
dignified  and  courteous,  and  some  of  the  papers  have 
real  literary  excellence.  As  a  whole,  the  volume  is  a 
credit  to  our  brethren,  and  is  a  strong  plea  for  their 
position. 

After  a  careful  examination  of  the  volume  it  does 


PREFACE.  V 

not  seem  to  be  either  necessary  or  desirable  to  recon- 
struct and  rewrite  my  work.  I  have  added  notes  to 
meet,  so  far  as  seemed  desirable,  new  points,  or  old 
points  freshly  presented. 

In  the  hope  that  this  little  work  may  contribute 
somewhat  to  the  bringing  together  of  the  separated 
groups  of  the  Presbyterian  family,  the  writer  submits 
it  to  the  kindly  and  thoughtful  consideration  of  his 
brethren  in  all  branches  of  the  Presbyterian  brother- 
hood. 

Pbesbyterian  ]VIanse, 

Marathon,  N.  Y., 

Aug.  29, 1.907. 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION. 

Practical  importance  of  the  question.— Diverse  views 
bar  to  fellowship.— United  Presbyterians  ac- 
cepted as  typical  Psalm-singers.— Reasons. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE  QUESTION  STATED. 

Controversy  dates  from  1719.— Three  positions  de- 
veloped: Davidic  Psalmody;  Scripture  Psalm- 
ody; Scriptural  Psalmody.— The  Davidic  theory. 
—  Testimony  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church.— 
Testimony  slightly  ambiguous.— James  Harper, 
D.D.— John  T.  Pressly,  D.D.— J.  B.  Johnston, 
D.D. 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  BASAL  PRINCIPLE. 

Divine  appointment.— Westminster  Confession.— 
J.  G.  Carson,  D.D.— James  Harper,  D.D.— D.  W. 
Collins,  D.D.— Positions  controverted.— Varia- 
tions from  Mosaic  ordinances  noted.— The  ordi- 
nance of  praise.— James  Harper,  D.D. —J.  Clay- 
baugh,  D.D.— The  True  Psalmody.— True  con- 
ception of  the  ordinance  of  praise. 

CHAPTER  HI. 

THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS. 

Their  exclusive  use.— Position  as  stated  by  J.  Clay- 
baugh,  D.D.— John  T.  Pressly,  D.D.— Dr.  Martin. 
—J.    G.    Carson,    D.D.— Position    examined.— 


viii  CONTENTS. 

Psalmody  of  Old  Testament  church  not  exclu- 
sively Davidic— Alfred  Edersheim,  D.D.— Sup- 
plemental Note :  (a)  Question  stated ;  (6)  Psalter 
formed;  (c)  Question  answered. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PSALMODY  IN   THE   NEW   TESTAMENT. 

Proof  texts,— Ephesians  5:18-20;  Colossians  3:16.— 
The  three  systems  tested  by  these  texts.— 1. 
Davidic  theory.— John  T.  Pressly,  D.D.— J.  Clay- 
baugh,  D.D.— William  J.  Reid,  D.D.— Statements 
inaccurate.— 2,  A  Scripture,  or  Inspired,  Psalm- 
ody.—J.  B.  Johnston,  D.D.— Joseph  T.  Cooper, 
D.D.— Theory  examined.— 3.  Scriptural  theory. 
—  This  theory  comprehensive  and  not  exclusive. — 
Texts  examined.— "Word  of  Christ.— Teaching 
and  admonishing.— Terms,  Psalms,  Hymns  and 
Spiritual  Songs.— Jewish  custom.— Edersheim.— 
Ephesians  probably  hymn-singers.— Winer.— 
Supplementary  Note:  (a)  Psalm  titles  in  Septua- 
gint;  (&)  Spiritual;  (c)  Making  songs;  {d)  "Un- 
thinkable" linking. 

CHAPTER  V. 

PRACTICAL  PROBLEMS. 

Place  of  song  in  Christian  work.— Concessions  of 
Psalm-singers. — James  Harper,  D.D. —Overture 
of  1787.  — Concession  theoretical  rather  than  prac- 
tical.—Hymnody  as  evidence  of  unity.— Present 
hymnody  not  ideal. — Co-operation  of  Psalm- 
singers  desirable.— Supplemental  Note:  (a)  The 
Ephesian  and  Colossian  passages;  (&)  Gospel 
hymns;  (c)  Outlook  for  Psalmody;  (d)  Con- 
clusion. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Considered  in  reference  to  their  songs  of  praise  the 
Presbyterian  churches  of  this  country  are  divisible 
into  Psalm-singers  and  hymn-singers.  The  former, 
in  their  formal  worship  of  God,  confine  themselves 
exclusively  to  the  use  of  a  metrical  version  of  the  Book 
of  Psalms.  The  latter  extend  their  songs  of  praise  be- 
yond this  collection.  So  far  as  mere  number  of  organ- 
izations is  concerned,  these  churches  are  equally  di- 
vided between  these  two  groups. 

This  difference  respecting  Psalmody  is  probably 
the  most  divisive  difference  existing  in  the  Presby- 
terian family  to-day.  While  recent  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory and  current  ecclesiastical  conditions  forbid  the 
fond  expectation  that  with  even  this  difference  com- 
pletely eliminated  these  bodies  would  at  once  flow 
together  into  one  organization,  yet  doubtless  such 
elimination  would  contribute  largely  to  such  a  result. 
It  would  at  any  rate,  beyond  all  question,  render  co- 
operation and  fellowship  between  them  more  feasible 
and  cordial  than  is  possible  at  present.  No  other  dif- 
ference is  such  a  bar  to  complete  fraternization  as  this 
one  respecting  Psalmody.  In  fellowship  meetings 
and  co-operative  activities  other  differences  can,  for 
the  time,  be  ignored.  Usually  there  is  nothing  to 
bring  them  into  prominence  and  make  them  matters 
of  synchronous  practical  importance.  It  is  otherwise 
with  Psalmody.  There  can  be  no  devotional  service 
without  song— no   song  without   words.     But  what 


2  INTRODUCTION. 

shall  these  be— Psalm  or  hymn,  or  Psalm  and  hymn? 
One  or  other  of  these  it  must  be ;  and  yet  neither  one 
of  these  alternatives  is  fully  and  cordially  satisfactory 
to  either  party.  Regrettable  as  this  condition  of  af- 
fairs is  anyAvhere  and  always,  it  is  positively  distress- 
ing in  the  foreign  field  when  workers  of  kindred  faith 
and  polity  are  seeking  fullest  co-operation  in  mission 
work. 

Such  a  condition  cannot  be  absolutely  justified. 
God  is  not  the  author  of  confusion,  but  of  peace.  "Were 
his  will  fully  apprehended  and  loyally  obeyed  there 
would  be  harmony.  Either  one  side  is  maintaining  a 
restriction,  or  the  other  is  practicing  a  freedom,  which 
is  unwarranted.  Which  is  it?  Which  has  mistaken 
the  Divine  will  ?  It  will  not  do  to  answer  this  question 
hastily  or  inconsiderately ;  for  it  is  a  question  of  long 
standing,  and  has  been  differently  answered  by  able 
and  conscientious  men.  And  yet  the  fact  that  after 
two  or  three  generations  of  controversy  the  question 
remains  an  open  one  should  not  lead  us  to  feel  that 
a  final  answer  is  unattainable.  Rather  it  should  incite 
us  to  more  careful  study  and  more  diligent  endeavor 
to  discover  the  Divine  will.  To  such  study  and  effort 
the  following  pages  will  be  devoted. 

In  prosecuting  this  study  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  of  North  America  will  be  regarded  and 
treated  as  the  representative  of  the  Psalm-singing 
churches.  This  will  be  done,  not  because  there  is  any- 
thing peculiar  in  the  teachings  of  this  church  on  the 
subject  of  Psalmody  which  differentiates  it  from  the 
other  Psalm-singing  churches,  but  for  the  following 
reasons : 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

1.  It  is  by  far  the  largest  of  the  Psalm-singing 
churches  in  this  country.  The  titles  and  membership 
of  the  various  Psalm-singing  churches  in  our  country 
are  as  follows:  The  Associate  Presbyterian,  1,000; 
The  Associate  Reformed  Synod  of  the  South,  13,000 ; 
Christian  Reformed  Church,  24,000;  Reformed  Pres- 
byterian Synod,  10,000;  Reformed  Presbyterian 
General  Synod,  5,000 ;  The  United  Presbyterian,  145,- 
000 ;  total,  198,000.  Thus  it  is  seen  that  nearly  75  per 
cent,  of  the  entire  Psalm-singing  membership  is  found 
in  the  United  Presbyterian  Church. 

2.  With  the  possible  exception  of  the  Christian  Re- 
formed Church  it  is  fully  and  fairly  representative 
of  all  the  Psalm-singing  churches.  It  is  at  least  rep- 
resentative of  all  those  with  which  closer  relations  or 
organic  union  are  at  present  practical  questions.  It 
is  so  for  the  reason  that  it  is  a  union  church— a  church 
resulting  from  union  at  different  times  of  different 
bodies  of  Psalm-singers.  And  further,  in  this  connec- 
tion, it  is  a  happy  fact  that  these  different  bodies  are 
represented  in  the  authorship  of  its  literature  on  the 
Psalmody  question. 

3.  Within  one  of  the  constituent  elements  of  this 
church— The  Associate  Reformed— the  writer  was 
reared;  and  in  the  United  Church  the  earlier  years 
of  his  ministry  were  passed.  Its  teachings  are  thor- 
oughly familiar  to  him.  Its  authors  were  his  ac- 
quaintances—many of  them  his  personal  friends. 

The  work  is  not  undertaken  because  of  love  of  con- 
troversy, but  because  the  writer  desires  the  union, 
or  at  least  the  complete  fraternization,  of  the  entire 
Presbyterian  family.    Neither  of  these  ends  will  be 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

effected  till  this  question  is  settled.  Nor  will  it  be 
settled  by  the  overpowering  weight  of  mere  numbers. 
It  is  not  desirable  that  it  should  be.  It  will  be  settled 
only  by  the  harmonizing  of  intelligent  convictions. 
This  work  is  the  statement,  explanation  and  justifi- 
cation of  the  convictions  of  the  writer.  These  convic- 
tions are  the  results  of  years  of  study  and  reflection, 
and  of  many  even  painful  struggles  with  doubts  and 
difficulties.  When  first  his  inherited  convictions  be- 
gan to  weaken  in  the  presence  of  personal  thought  and 
practical  experience  the  writer  resisted  the  change, 
and  did  all  in  his  power  to  arrest  it.  The  conflict  con- 
tinued through  several  years.  But  the  writer  has 
reached  satisfaction  in  this  matter  in  the  conclusions 
which  in  this  little  work  find  expression.  Having 
been  reached  in  this  Avay,  it  is  hoped  that  the  conclu- 
sions which  are  here  expressed,  and  the  considerations 
by  which  they  are  justified,  may  lead  other  brethren 
passing  through  similar  conflicts  into  like  peace. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  QUESTION   STATED. 

The  Psalmody  question  as  it  exists  to-day  in  this 
country,  really  dates  from  the  publication  in  1719  of 
*'The  Psalms  of  David,  Imitated  in  the  Language  of 
the  New  Testament, ' '  by  Isaac  Watts,  D.D.  Up  to  that 
time  not  only  Presbyterians  of  all  schools,  but  Con- 
gregationalists  as  well,  practically  confined  themselves 
to  some  metrical  version  of  the  Psalms  of  David.  It 
was  only  as  these  imitations  came  into  current  use 
that  the  Psalmody  question  as  it  exists  to-day  arose 
in  the  church.  As  it  is  no  part  of  the  purpose  of  this 
essay  to  trace  the  history  of  Psalmody  we  will  content 
ourselves  with  the  statement  of  results.  Suffice  it  then 
to  say  that  in  the  course  of  the  controversy  three 
theories  of  Psalmody  have  been  developed.  These 
three  theories  may  be  designated  and  briefly  described 
as  follows : 

1.  A  Davidic  Psalmody.  According  to  this  theory, 
the  church  is  restricted,  in  the  formal  worship  of  God, 
to  the  songs  contained  in  the  Book  of  Psalms.  This  is 
the  practical,  though,  strictly  speaking,  not  precisely 
the  confessional,  position  of  all  the  Psalm-singing 
churches  of  this  country. 

2.  A  Scripture  Psalmody.  This  extends  the  songs 
of  praise  to  all  suitable  lyrical  portions  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. This  has  been  practically  the  position  of  the 
Presbyterian  churches  of  Great  Britain  and  her  col- 
onies until  comparatively  recent  years. 


6  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

3.  A  Scriptural  Psalmody.  This  extends  the  songs 
to  all  portions  of  the  Scripture,  and  only  requires  that 
the  songs  be  Scriptural  in  sentiment  and  devotional 
in  character.  This  is  practically  the  position  of  all 
the  hymn-singing  churches  of  to-day. 

Of  these  three  theories  only  the  first  and  third  are  of 
present  practical  importance.  To  these  then  let  us 
turn. 

The  Davidic  theory  finds  expression  in  the  testimony 
of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church.  Article  XVIII. 
of  that  testimony  reads  as  follows: 

''We  declare,  That  it  is  the  will  of  God  that  the 
songs  contained  in  the  Book  of  Psalms  be  sung  in  his 
worship,  both  public  and  private,  to  the  end  of  the 
world ;  and  in  singing  God's  praise,  these  songs  should 
be  employed  to  the  exclusion  of  the  devotional  com- 
positions of  uninspired  men." 

Examining  this  declaration  closely,  we  find  that  it 
is  neither  so  positive  nor  definite  as  at  first  reading 
it  seems  to  be.  It  declares,  first,  That  it  is  the  will  of 
God  that  the  songs  contained  in  the  Book  of  Psalms 
are  to  be  used  in  the  worship  of  God,  both  public  and 
private,  to  the  end  of  the  world.  Does  this  mean  that 
the  entire  Psalter  is  to  be  regularly  sung  through  in 
course,  or  simply  that  the  songs  sung  must  be  selected 
from  the  Psalter?  Time  was  when  the  former  was  an 
influential  conception.  In  the  writer's  boyhood,  in 
the  first  praise  service  of  the  Sabbath  worship,  the 
Psalter  was  regularly  sung  through  in  course.  Of 
course  this  was  done  by  portions.  And  these  portions 
were  always  expounded— "explaining  the  Psalm,"  it 
was  called— before  singing.     So,  too,  in  family  wor- 


TEE  QUESTION  STATED.  7 

ship  the  Psalter  was  sung  through  in  course,  as  the 
Bible  was  read  through  in  course.  But  the  practice 
has  long  since  ceased.  The  writer,  in  his  pulpit  min- 
istrations, never  followed  it,  nor,  so  far  as  he  knows, 
have  any  of  his  contemporaries.  Selection  is  the  rule. 
So  largely  is  this  the  case  that  for  years  there  has 
been  in  common  use  a  little  praise  book,  entitled  "  Bible 
Songs. ' '  It  consists  of  brief  selections  from  the  Psalter 
set  to  appropriate  music.  And  even  when  the  entire 
Psalter  is  at  hand  selection  is  the  rule.  And  the  se- 
lections, on  examination,  will  be  found  to  be  surpris- 
ingly limited. 

Second,  it  declares  that  these  songs  are  to  be  sung 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  devotional  compositions  of  un- 
inspired men. 

Third,  it  is  noticeable  that  it  does  not  say  that  they 
are  to  be  used  to  the  exclusion  of  the  devotional  com- 
positions of  inspired  men.  In  other  words,  it  does 
not  say  that  these  songs  of  the  Psalter  are  to  be  sung  to 
the  exclusion  of  other  suitable  lyrical  portions  of  the 
Scriptures.  It  leaves  the  question  respecting  the  use 
of  such  songs  an  open  one. 

This  is  not  an  unwarranted  and  disavowed  inference 
from  the  language  of  the  declaration.  It  is  a  fact 
freely  acknowledged  by  our  brethren  themselves. 

"Among  those  who  advocate  the  exclusive  use  of  in- 
spired songs  in  praising  God,  some  (a  small  minority, 
it  is  believed)  hold,  that,  besides  the  Psalter,  other 
parts  of  Scripture  may  warrantably  be  employed  in 
that  exercise."  Rev.  James  Harper,  D.D.,  in  Schaff- 
Herzog  Encyclopedia  s.  v.  Psalms.  "Between  those, 
on  the  one  hand,  who  plead  for  the  exclusive  use  of 
the  Book  of  Psalms,  and  those,  on  the  other,  who  ad- 


S  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

mit  the  propriety  of  using  in  the  worship  of  God  any 
song  of  praise  contained  in  the  Bible,  the  difference 
of  opinion  is  not  of  such  a  nature  as  should  disturb 
the  peace  of  the  Church  of  God.  Such  a  difference 
should,  I  believe,  be  made  a  matter  of  forbearance 
among  brethren.  Let  the  principle  be  explicitly  rec- 
ognized, that  no  songs  of  praise  shall  be  used  in  the 
worship  of  God  but  those  which  are  given  by  inspira- 
tion of  God,  and  then  the  peace  and  harmony  of  the 
Christian  world  are  not  likely  to  be  interrupted  by 
controversy  on  this  subject."  Dr.  Pressly  on  Psalm- 
ody, p.  88.  "True,  on  one  hand,  the  practice  has  been 
confined  to  the  Book  of  Psalms,  while,  in  principle, 
uncompromised  in  regard  to  the  use  of  other  inspired 
songs,  suitable  for  praise.  It  is  a  remarkable  feature 
of  the  providence  of  the  head  of  the  church  that  has 
led  all  the  psalm-singing  churches  to  leave,  in  their 
organic  law,  the  question  of  the  use  of  'other  scrip- 
ture songs'  an  open  one— one  subject  to  interpretation, 
or  application,  as  circumstances  may  suggest." 
Psalmody,  J,  B.  Johnston,  p.  82. 

These  three  brethren  represent  the  three  constituent 
elements  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church;  and 
hence  the  entire  body  of  Psalm-singing  Christians  in 
this  country.  Attention  is  especially  called  to  this 
indefiniteness  in  the  statement  of  their  position  by 
our  Psalm-singing  brethren,  not  because  of  any  prac- 
tical importance  to  be  attached  to  it,  but  for  its  logical 
bearing  on  the  Psalmody  controversy.  This  bearing 
will  become  manifest  when  the  argument  by  which  the 
position  of  our  brethren  is  defended  comes  to  be  ex- 
amined. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  BASAL  PRINCIPLE. 

It  is  a  fortunate  fact  that  all  members  of  the  Pres- 
byterian household  are  in  agreement  in  regard  to  the 
ultimate  authority  by  which  all  questions  of  faith 
and  practice  are  to  be  settled.  The  faith  common  to 
all  of  them  is  formulated  in  the  Westminster  Con- 
fession, and  is  as  follows: 

"The  light  of  nature  showeth  that  there  is  a  God, 
who  hath  lordship  and  sovereignty  over  all;  is  good, 
and  doeth  good  unto  all ;  and  is  therefore  to  be  feared, 
loved,  praised,  called  upon,  trusted  in,  and  served  with 
all  the  heart,  and  with  all  the  soul,  and  with  all  the 
might.  But  the  acceptable  way  of  worshipping  the 
true  God  is  instituted  by  himself,  and  so  limited  by  his 
own  revealed  will,  that  he  may  not  be  worshipped  ac- 
cording to  the  imaginations  and  devices  of  men,  or  the 
suggestions  of  Satan,  under  any  visible  representation, 
or  any  other  way  not  prescribed  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
ture."   Confession  of  Faith,  Chapter  21,  Sec.  1. 

It  is  to  this  principle  our  brethren  appeal.  Upon  it 
they  found  their  plea.  The  following  is  a  representa- 
tive statement  of  their  position : 

"In  pleading  the  cause  of  the  songs  of  Zion,  the 
great  argument  on  which  we  rely  is  the  divine  ap- 
pointment of  them,  to  be  used  in  singing  God's  praise ; 
and  our  grand  objection  to  the  use  of  the  evangelical 
compositions  of  uninspired  men  is,  that  whatever  other 
recommendations  they  may  possess,  they  lack  divine 
appointment.  ...  As  this  is  a  principle  of  very  great 


10  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

importance  at  all  times;  and  especially  so  at  a  time 
like  the  present,  when  there  is  so  strong  a  disposition 
to  make  improvements  in  religion,  as  well  as  in  the 
department  of  human  science,  the  reader  will  allow 
me  to  add  a  few  remarks  to  what  has  already  been  said. 
' '  To  ancient  Israel,  the  following  direction,  with  re- 
gard to  the  worship  of  God,  was  given  by  Jehovah  him- 
self: 'An  altar  of  earth,  thou  shalt  make  unto  me, 
and  shalt  sacrifice  thereon  thy  burnt-offerings  and 
thy  peace-offerings,  thy  sheep  and  thine  oxen.  And 
if  thou  wilt  make  me  an  altar  of  stone,  thou  shalt  not 
build  it  of  hewn  stone;  for  if  thou  lift  up  thy  tool 
upon  it  thou  hast  polluted  it. '  Exodus  20 :  24,  25. 
If  human  wisdom  had  been  consulted  with  regard  to 
this  institution,  many  reasons  could  have  been  ad- 
vanced to  show  the  propriety  of  erecting  an  altar  of 
a  different  kind  from  the  one  here  described.  It  might 
have  been  said  with  much  plausibility,  that  to  set  up 
an  altar  of  rough  unpolished  stone  would  look  very 
much  like  carelessness  in  relation  to  religious  worship ; 
that  it  would  seem  to  indicate  an  unwillingness  to  sub- 
mit to  any  labor  or  expense  in  the  service  of  God ;  and 
in  appearance  at  least  would  be  disrespectful  to  the 
object  of  religious  worship.  And  the  wisdom  of  man 
would  not  hesitate  to  decide  that  an  altar  of  polished 
stone,  neatly  adjusted  together  by  the  skill  of  the  artifi- 
cer, would  appear  more  respectful  to  the  Deity,  and 
consequently  would  be  more  likely  to  prove  acceptable 
to  God.  But,  no !  It  does  not  belong  to  human  wis- 
dom to  determine  what  is  proper  in  the  worship  of 
God.  This  is  exclusively  the  prerogative  of  him  who  is 
the  object  of  religious  worship ;  and  his  declaration  is, 
thou  shalt  not  build  it  of  hewn  stone ;  for  if  thou  lift 
up  thy  tool  upon  it,  thou  hast  polluted  it.  .  .  .  The 
conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  then  is,  that  in  all  our 
religious  offerings,  we  must  be  prepared  to  answer 
the  question,  'Who  hath  required  this  at  your 
hands?'  "    Dr.  Pressly  on  Psalmody,  pp.  16,  17,  18. 


TEE  BASAL  PRINCIPLE,  11 

To  this  principle  itself  no  one  objects.  It  is  only 
to  the  interpretation  and  application  of  the  principle 
by  our  brethren  that  exception  is  taken.  In  their 
teaching  divine  appointment  is  always  specific  and 
positive.  It  always  either  enjoins  or  forbids— never 
simply  authorizes  or  permits. 

"When,  therefore,  we  bring  a  Psalm,  or  a  hymn  to 
offer  unto  God,  the  very  first  requisite  to  acceptance 
is  a  divine  warrant  on  which  faith  can  rest  and  say, 
'AVe  bring  to  thee  that  which  thou  hast  required  and 
appointed.'  And  for  this  nothing  less  and  nothing 
else  will  serve  than  a  positive  divine  appointment, 
either  by  express  Scripture  precept  or  example,  or 
good  and  necessary  inference  from  Scripture.  Faith 
is  a  positive,  not  a  negative  exercise,  and  requires  a 
positive,  not  a  negative  authority.  It  will  not  satisfy 
such  a  faith  to  say  that  the  thing  is  not  forbidden,  be- 
cause to  the  conscience  of  the  believer  the  very  absence 
of  a  divine  appointment  operates  as  a  prohibition." 
An  Authorized  Psalmody.  By  Rev.  J.  G.  Carson, 
D.D.,  pp.  19,  20. 

Referring  to  the  statements  of  the  "Westminster  Con- 
fession and  Catechisms  respecting  worship  Dr.  James 
Harper  says : 

"These  statements  are  so  precise  and  clear  that  to 
mistake  their  meaning  would  seem  well-nigh  impossi- 
ble, and  that  meaning  is  that  every  part  and  form  of 
lawful  worship  is  appointed  by  God,  and  that  whatever 
lacks  this  appointment  is  forbidden."  A  Counterblast 
to  the  Organ.  By  James  Harper,  p.  10.  ' '  In  matters 
of  religious  worship  what  God  has  not  commanded  is 
as  good  as  forhidden."  The  Ordinance  of  Praise.  By 
J.  Claybaugh,  D.D.,  p.  32.  "The  position  of  the 
churches  adhering  to  an  inspired  Psalmody,  however, 


12  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

is  that  every  appointment  of  God  for  divine  worship 
is  obligatory— that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  op- 
tional warrant  for  any  institution  of  that  worship— 
that  an  inspired  Psalmody  has  been  appointed,  and, 
therefore,  is  to  be  used  exclusively— that  singing  in 
praise  is  required  and  instrumentation  not  required, 
and,  therefore,  has  no  place  in  praise.  The  whole  lit- 
erature of  the  controversy  on  Psalmody  has  its  pivo- 
tal point  in  this  one  question. ' '  JNIusical  Instruments 
in  Divine  Worship,  Condemned  by  the  Word  of  God. 
By  Eev.  D.  W.  Collins,  D.D.,  p.  18. 

There  is  a  sense  in  which  even  these  teachings  may 
be  cordially  accepted.  But  taken  in  the  sense  in  which 
they  must  be  understood,  if  they  are  to  be  accepted  as 
justification  for  the  positions  they  are  intended  to  sub- 
stantiate, they  are  neither  Confessional  nor  Scriptural. 

They  are  not  Confessional.  One  of  the  rules  given 
for  the  interpretation  of  the  Ten  Commandments  is 
this:  "What  God  forbids  is  at  no  time  to  be  done; 
what  he  commands  is  always  our  duty,  and  yet  every 
particular  duty  is  not  to  be  done  at  all  times. ' '  Larger 
Catechism,  Question  99.  Specially  suggestive  are  the 
Scripture  texts  quoted  in  proof  of  the  position.  They 
are  these ;  Matt.  12 :7  :  "But  if  ye  had  known  what  this 
meaneth,  I  will  have  mercy,  and  not  sacrifice,  ye  would 
not  have  condemned  the  guiltless";  Mark  14:7:  "For 
ye  have  the  poor  with  you  always,  and  whensoever  ye 
will  ye  may  do  them  good;  but  me  ye  have  not  al- 
ways." In  other  words,  the  commands  of  God  are 
always  to  be  interpreted  in  the  light  of  the  purpose 
for  which  they  have  been  given— the  end  they  are  in- 
tended to  serve;  and  the  spirit  of  the  command  is 
never  to  be  sacrificed  to  its  letter. 


THE  BASAL  PRINCIPLE.  13 

They  are  not  Scriptural,  {a)  Only  the  males  among 
the  Israelites  were  required  to  attend  the  annual 
feast  (Deut.  16: 16,  17),  and  yet  women  attended  with 
acceptance.  1  Sam.  1:7.  (&)  Only  three  annual  feasts 
were  appointed.  These  were  the  Feasts  of  the  Pass- 
over, Pentecost  and  Tabernacles.  Deut.  16:16,  17. 
After  the  Captivity  two  others  were  added— Purim 
and  Dedication.  Specially  noticeable,  in  this  connec- 
tion, is  the  latter.  It  was  "an  annual  festival  insti- 
tuted by  Judas  Maccabgeus  in  165  b.c.  to  celebrate  the 
reconsecration  of  the  temple  to  Jehovah  after  it  had 
been  desecrated  for  three  years  by  the  Greek  idolatries 
carried  on  within  its  precincts  by  order  of  Antiochus 
Epiphanes.  1  Mac.  4:52-59.  The  feast  lasted  eight 
days,  beginning  on  the  25th  of  Chislev  (approx- 
imately November),  and  falling  consequently  in  win^ 
ter.  Jesus  was  at  least  once  present  at  Jerusalem 
during  the  festival,  and  delivered  one  of  his  discourses 
to  those  assembled  at  the  temple  for  the  celebration. 
John  10 :  22.  The  Jews  still  observe  the  festival. ' ' 
Dictionary  of  the  Bible.  John  D.  Davis,  s.  v.  Dedi- 
cation. So  also  in  substance  Hastings  and  Smith  Dic- 
tionaries, and  other  authorities.  Here,  then,  is  a  feast 
not  even  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures, 
and  yet  honored  by  Jesus  by  personal  attendance  and 
public  teaching,  (c)  In  the  times  of  our  Saviour 
there  were  two  observances  connected  with  the  Feast 
of  Tabernacles— the  pouring  out  of  water  from  the 
pool  of  Siloam  and  the  illumination  of  the  temple— 
which  were  of  post-Mosaic  origin.  And  yet  while  in 
Jerusalem  in  attendance  upon  this  feast  Jesus  ap- 
parently makes  use  of  both  of  these  customs  to  illus- 


14  TKE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

trate  his  mission.  John  7:37;  8:12.  (d)  The  law  it- 
self made  provision  for  free-will  offerings.  Lev.  7:16. 
The  first  mention  of  these  is  in  connection  with  the 
building  of  the  tabernacle.  Ex.  25:2;  35:29;  36:3. 
And  this  fact  sufficiently  indicates  their  true  charac- 
ter, (e)  It  seems  difficult,  too,  on  the  principles  of  our 
brethren,  to  justify  current  orthodox  teachings  re- 
specting the  Fourth  Commandment,  That  command- 
ment as  explicitly  enjoins  work  on  the  six  days  as  it 
does  rest  and  worship  on  the  seventh ;  and  yet  no  one 
hesitates  to  urge,  on  occasion,  intermission  of  labor 
and  devotion  of  some,  or,  even  for  a  time,  largely  all 
of  these  six  days  to  worship. 

Of  course  our  brethren  have  a  reply  to  all  this.  It 
is  thus  presented  by  one  of  them : 

"There  is,  therefore,  no  warrant  in  reference  to 
the  passover  that  did  not  apply  to  the  women  as  well  as 
to  the  men.  But  even  if  the  women  had  not  been  in- 
cluded in  the  obligation  to  observe  the  passover,  every- 
thing in  the  mode  of  observing  it  was  obligatory,  and 
this  is  the  question  at  issue.  .  .  .  The  prolonging  of 
a  feast  by  Solomon  and  Hezekiah  is  not  a  case  in 
point,  nor  is  the  question  of  the  appointment  of  the 
Feast  of  Dedication.  For  it  is  not  a  question  of  times 
or  occasions  for  worship,  but  of  the  mode  of  worship 
to  be  observed  in  the  praise  of  God.  We  have  a  right 
to  infer  for  several  reasons  which  we  need  not  present 
here,  that  the  Feast  of  Dedication  was  of  divine  obliga- 
tion. But  it  does  not  matter  in  the  decision  of  the 
question  of  the  mode  of  praise.  The  prolonging  of 
a  feast,  or  the  appointment  of  a  new  occasion  for 
others,  by  no  means  implies  a  permission  to  change 
a  prescribed  mode  of  worship.  If  the  occasion  was 
one  for  praise  it  must  be  rendered  as  the  law  required. 


TEE  BASAL  PRINCIPLE.  15 

The  principle  holds  good  in  reference  to  every  ex- 
ample. 

' '  The  claim  that  in  the  institution  of  free-will  offer- 
ings the  letter  of  the  law  makes  a  distinction  between 
the  voluntary  and  the  obligatory  'respecting  religious 
worship, '  furnishes  absolutely  nothing  in  favor  of  the 
theory  of  an  optional  warrant  for  anything  in  divine 
worship.  Moses  commands,  respecting  the  offering, 
made  on  the  three  great  occasions  of  the  assembling 
of  the  people  at  the  appointed  place,  that  'they  shall 
not  appear  before  the  Lord  empty.'  'Every  man  shall 
give  as  he  is  able,  according  to  the  blessing  of  the  Lord 
thy  God  which  he  hath  given  thee. '  Deut.  16 :  16,  17. 
This  command  included  what  is  in  Lev.  23 :  38  called 
'gifts,'  'vows'  and  'freewill  offerings.'  They  were  all 
required  offerings.  Every  one  was  required  to  know 
how  the  Lord  had  blessed  him  and  to  offer  accordingly. 
The  offering  was  to  be  'of  his  own?  will.'  But  the 
principle  is  that  the  giver  recognizing  the  extent  of 
the  blessing  he  enjoyed  should  give  with  a  cheerful 
heart,  and  his  gifts  were  to  be  the  evidence  that  his 
will  was  in  hearty  accord  with  the  will  of  the  Lord. 
It  is  the  very  principle  on  which  all  offerings  are  to  be 
presented  to  God  still.  .  .  .  Other  examples  are  al- 
leged as  being  recognized  by  the  consciousness  and 
universal  practice  of  Christendom  as  having  for  them 
an  optional  warrant,  such  as  Aveek-day  services  and 
prayer-meetings.  It  need  only  be  replied  here  again 
that  when  such  services  are  held  God  has  prescribed 
the  matter  and  manner  of  the  service.  Nothing  is  to 
be  presented  in  such  services  but  the  ordinances  as 
divinely  appointed."  Musical  Instruments  in  Divine 
Worship,  Condemned  by  the  Word  of  God.  By  Rev. 
D.  W.  Collins,  D.D.,  pp.  20-22. 

It  is  difficult  to  know  how  to  reconcile  these  ap- 
parently conflicting  teachings  of  our  brethren.  In 
worshipping   God   "the   very  first   requisite   to   ac- 


16  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

ceptance  is  a  divine  warrant  on  which  faith  can  rest 
and  say,  We  bring  thee  that  which  thou  hast  required 
and  appointed,"  and  yet  here  is  an  Old  Testament 
feast  which  "was  of  divine  obligation,"  though  not 
mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures,  and  which 
did  not  even  originate  until,  according  to  the  tradi- 
tional view  accepted  by  our  brethren,  long  after  the 
canon  of  Old  Testament  Scripture  was  closed.  Here, 
too,  are  offerings  our  brethren  say  were  required,  and 
hence  obligatory,  which  God  himself  said  were  free- 
will offerings  and  hence  voluntary. 

The  key  to  the  reconciliation  of  these  apparently 
contradictory  teachings  of  our  brethren  lies  in  their 
conception  of  the  ordinance  of  praise.  That  concep- 
tion is  that  the  singing  of  Psalms  in  the  formal  wor- 
ship of  God  constitutes  the  ordinance  of  praise.  This 
is  the  assumption  underlying  their  entire  argument. 
That  it  is,  at  least  implicitly,  their  positive  teaching 
the  following  quotations  make  evident: 

"What  are  the  commonly  acknowledged  ordinances 
of  the  New  Testament  church  ?  The  sacred  observance 
of  the  Lord's  day;  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures; 
preaching;  the  benediction;  prayer;  the  singing  of 
psalms;  the  giving  of  our  substance  for  the  cause  of 
God ;  fasting  in  certain  circumstances ;  vowing  to  God ; 
the  observance  of  baptism  and  the  Lord 's  Supper ;  the 
form  of  church  government ;  and  the  administration 
of  discipline."  A  Counterblast  to  the  Organ.  By 
James  Harper,  pp.  81,  82.  "No  enlightened  Christian 
will  deny  that  praise  is  an  ordinance  of  God.  .  .  .  An 
ordinance  always  implies  an  ordaining  power,  to  which 
exclusively  belongs  the  regulation  of  the  whole  matter 
ordained.  ...  In  the  very  nature  of  the  thing,  the 
entire  ordinance  is  from  the  ordaining  power.    And 


TEE  BASAL  PRINCIPLE.  17 

certainly  the  matter  to  be  sung  is  of  prominent  im- 
portance in  the  ordinance  of  praise.  And  this  or- 
dinance not  merely  prescribes  praise  in  general,  hut 
appoints  the  Book  of  Psalms  for  this  purpose."  The 
Ordinance  of  Praise.  By  J.  Claybaugh,  D.D.,  pp. 
11-15. 

"There  is  an  ordinance  of  praise.  .  .  .  But  what 
is  the  ordinance  of  praise?  Does  it  consist  merely  in 
the  use  of  musical  instead  of  reading  tones?  And 
can  there  be  so  much  difference  between  these  two 
modes  of  uttering  the  same  sentiments,  as  that  one  is 
allowable,  and  the  other  not?  This  is  a  very  subtle 
form  of  the  general  argument  which  we  have  just  con- 
sidered. And  we  remark,  (1)  That  the  same  kind  of 
reasoning  would  be  equally  available,  as  we  have  seen, 
to  confound  other  religious  acts  and  ordinances  with 
the  doings  of  every  day,  or  of  the  Christian  life.  (2) 
It  is  not  the  mere  use  of  singing  tones,  but  the  design 
of  the  act,  and  its  circumstances,  which  we  are  here  to 
consider,  just  as  we  do  in  reference  to  baptism,  the 
Lord's  Supper,  and  laying  on  of  hands  in  the  act  of 
ordination.  Are  we  engaged  in  celebrating  God's 
praise  in  song,  according  to  his  appointment,  and  in 
circumstances  to  which  that  appointment  relates?  If 
so,  we  must  have  regard  to  something  more  than  the 
tones  merely  in  which  we  utter  our  praises.  We  must 
take  with  us  the  entire  institution  of  praise  as  a  part 
of  the  prescribed  order  of  worship.  Hence  (3),  it  is 
most  important  to  remember  that  we  have  a  book,  pro- 
vided by  Him  Avhose  name  we  magnify  in  song,  and 
appointed  for  this  very  end ;  and  no  command  or 
promise,  regarding  another.  Had  we  a  book  of  prayers 
in  the  Scriptures — were  we  commanded  to  use  this — 
were  there  no  precept  enjoining  the  use  of  any  prayers 
not  contained  in  this  book— were  there  no  promises  of 
help  in  making  prayers,  the  whole  ordinance  of  prayer 
would  be  comprehended  within  this  inspired  liturgy 
with  the  appropriate  and  prescribed  restrictions,  sea- 


18  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

sons,  etc.  We  have  no  such  prayer  book,  but  we  have 
a  hymn  or  Psalm  book,  similar  in  position,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  ordinance  of  praise,  as  our  supposed  in- 
spired prayer  book  to  that  of  praj'^er.  Hence,  we  ought 
to  infer  that  in  singing  praises,  this  alone  is  to  be  used, 
whatever  other  uses  we  may  lawfully  make  of  song. 
(4)  If  there  were  no  difference  between  reading  and 
singing,  we  might  omit  the  singing  entirely,  and  only 
read  Psalms  and  hymns !  Would  this  be  the  ordinance 
of  praise?  (5)  God  has  linked  singing  of  Psalms  to 
the  ordinance  of  praise,  and  we  should  not  cavil  about 
it,  as  if  there  were  no  material  difference."  The  True 
Psalmody,  pp.  134,  136,  137. 

Such  is  the  assumption — such  the  teaching  of  our 
brethren.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  assumption  stops 
just  short  of  claiming  that  singing  praise  and  sing- 
ing Psalms  are  equivalent,  and  hence  interchangeable, 
expressions— the  teaching  just  short  of  declaring  that 
the  worshipful  singing  of  Psalms  constitutes  the 
ordinance  of  praise.  They  stop  just  short  of  these 
positions  for  the  reason,  as  seen  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ter, that  the  Psalm-singing  churches  have  never  offi- 
cially declared  in  favor  of  the  use  of  the  Psalms  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  use  of  other  inspired  songs  of  praise. 
And  yet,  with  exceptions  which  will  be  noticed  in  a 
subsequent  chapter,  this  assumption  lies  at  the  basis 
of  the  entire  argument  of  our  brethren,  and  is  essen- 
tial to  its  validity.^ 

'I  have  sought  in  vain  for  a  clear  and  terse  definition  of 
praise  in  the  writings  of  our  brethren.  It  is  promised  in  the 
index  of  The  Psalms  in  Worship.  But  careful  reading  of  the 
six  pages  cited  does  not  reveal  it.  In  one  of  the  places  cited 
I  thought  I  had  found  it — "What  is  praise?  The  word  is  de- 
rived from  the  word  'price.'     But  who  knows  God's  price  or 


TUB  BASAL  PRINCIPLE.  19 

But  the  assumption  is  unwarranted— the  teaching 
unscriptural.  There  are,  it  is  freely  and  cheerfully 
conceded,  three  texts  in  our  authorized  version  that 
apparently  justify  the  assumption.  Chiefest  of  these 
is  James  5:13:  "Is  any  among  you  afflicted ?  let  him 
pray.  Is  any  merry?  let  him  sing  psalms."  Here 
are  evidently  contrasted  conditions  and  contrasted 
ordinances.  The  conditions  are  wretchedness  and  hap- 
piness. The  ordinances  Prayer  and  Praise.  But  in- 
stead of  writing  Let  him  praise,  James  writes,  Let 
him  sing  psalms.  Evidently,  then,  singing  psalms 
and  singing  praise  are  equivalent  expressions,   and 


value?  To  prepare  a  complete  and  sufficient  manual  of 
praise  ..."  Then  follows  a  plea  for  the  Psalter. — "Inspira- 
tion has  furnished  Psalms,  praises."  On  a  page  not  cited  in 
the  index  I  found  the  following:  "The  verb  to  praise  occurs 
four  times  in  the  New  Testament,  and  in  three  of  these  in- 
stances, by  universal  admission,  it  refers  to  the  Book  of 
Psalms."  These  places  are  Matt.  26:  30;  Mark  14:26;  Heb. 
2:  12,  and  Acts  16:  25.  Then  follows  argument  to  prove  that 
this  fourth  case  also  refers  to  the  Psalter.  The  Psalms  in 
Worship,  pp.  60,  459,  108.  This  last  statement,  made  by  an 
old  and  esteemed  schoolmate,  is  an  amazing  one.  It  implies: 
1.  That  the  verb  to  praise  occurs  but  four  times  in  the  New 
Testament.  2.  That  when  it  does  occur  it  is  the  rendering  of 
the  Greek  word  vfiveu.  3.  That  it  always  means  singing 
Psalms.  The  facts  are :  1 .  There  are  three  other  verbs  rendered 
praise.  2.  The  distinctive  word  for  praise  is  aiveu.  3.  It 
occurs  nine  times:  Luke  2:13,  20;  19:37;  24:53  (A.  V.)  ;  Acts 
2:47;  3:8,  9;  Rom.  15:11;  Rev.  19:5.  4.  It  never  means 
merely  singing  Psalms. 

I  do  not  wish  to  misrepresent  our  brethren.  But  their 
reasoning  reduced  to  definition  yields  this :  Praise  is  the  wor- 
shipful singing  of  Psalms.  And  this  is  a  definition  of  praise 
which  is  not  justified  by  the  word  of  God. 


20  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

hence  the  ordinance  of  praise  consists  in  the  worship- 
ful singing  of  Psalms.  This  is  very  simple,  and,  seem- 
ingly, very  conclusive.  The  other  two  texts  are 
1  Chron.  16:9  and  Ps,  105:2.  These  passages  are 
identical  ones,  and  furnish  no  appreciable  support  to 
the  argument. 

In  regard  to  this,  notice— 1.  In  the  revised  versions 
— both  British  and  American— each  of  these  passages 
is  rendered,  sing  praise,  or  sing  praises.  The  passage 
in  James  is  so  rendered  also  in  the  version  of  the 
American  Bible  Union.  2.  In  the  originals  these 
phrases  are  represented  by  single  words.  They  are 
the  rendering  of  simple  verbs — not  of  a  transitive 
verb  and  its  object.  These  words  are  psallo  in  Greek 
and  zamar  in  Hebrew.  Both  are  used  with  some  fre- 
quency, and  both  alike  primarily  denote  singing  with 
instrumental  accompaniment.  They  point  then  to  the 
manner  of  praise  rather  than  to  its  matter. 

The  ordinance  of  praise  then  does  not  consist  in  the 
worshipful  singing  of  Psalms.  It  consists  in  the  musi- 
cal rendering  of  religious  truth  as  an  act  of  worship. 
But  whether  that  truth  shall  be  embodied  in  Psalm, 
hymn  or  spiritual  song,  and  whether  that  rendition 
shall  be  choral  or  antiphonal— tune  or  chant,  uni- 
sonous or  harmonious— with  or  without  instrumental 
accompaniment,  are  matters  for  separate  considera- 
tion. All  these  things  belong  not  to  the  essence,  but 
to  the  circumstances,  of  praise. 

But,  after  all,  this  controversy  between  Psalm-sing- 
ers and  hymn-singers  in  regard  to  divine  appointment 
is  largely  a  strife  of  words.  Hymn-singers  are  not 
more  disposed  to  render  to  God  unacceptable  worship 


TEE  BASAL  PRINCIPLE.  21 

than  are  Psalm-singers.  Nor  do  they  recognize  less 
clearly  and  acknowledge  less  fully  that  worship  to  be 
acceptable  must  be  conformed  to  the  will  of  God.  It 
is  simply  a  question  as  to  what  that  will  is.  Our 
brethren  seem  to  be  strangely  oblivious  to  the  fact  that 
the  divine  appointment,  in  other  words,  the  revealed 
will  of  God,  respecting  worship  covers  two  quite  dis- 
tinct things.  The  one  is  the  ground  of  worship,  the 
other  is  its  mode.  On  what  ground  can  any  sort  of 
worship  on  the  part  of  a  sinful  being  be  acceptable 
to  a  holy  God?  A  basis  of  worship  being  provided, 
what  form  of  worship  is  acceptable?  It  is  evident 
that  the  ground,  or  basis,  of  worship  must  be  divinely 
and  graciously  provided.  Provision  for  worship  hav- 
ing been  furnished,  worship  itself  must  be  rendered 
agreeably  to  the  divine  will.  Broadly  speaking,  under 
the  Old  Testament  dispensation,  these  two  depart- 
ments of  worship  were  committed  to  two  orders  of 
ministers— priests  and  prophets.  It  is  true  that 
while  the  prophet,  as  such,  could  discharge  no  priestly 
functions,  yet  the  priest  was  charged  with  some  pro- 
phetic duties.  But,  distinctively  regarded,  they  rep- 
resented these  different  elements  of  religious  worship. 
These  two  elements  of  worship  were  differently 
treated  in  the  divine  appointment.  It  was  not  that 
the  divine  will  was  to  be  disregarded  in  the  one  case 
any  more  than  in  the  other.  It  was  simply  because  the 
divine  will  itself  treated  the  two  things  differently. 
And  there  was  a  manifest  reason  why  it  should.  The 
ground  of  acceptable  worship  is  the  atonement.  Under 
the  Old  Testament  dispensation  this  was  typically  rep- 
resented by  the  propitiatory  sacrifices.     This  atone- 


22  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

ment  is  a  divine  thing.  Human  work  and  human 
merit  are  utterly  excluded  from  it.  It  was  fitting  then 
that  when  it  was  typically  represented  by  human 
agency  these  agents  should  be  strictly  held  to  obedi- 
ence to  divine  instructions.  And  they  were.  Direc- 
tions were  given  in  regard  to  the  altar— the  sacrifice 
— the  priest — respecting  everything  in  fact  relating 
to  the  service.  These  things  pertained  to  the  priest; 
and  hence  regulations  respecting  the  priesthood  were 
explicit.  It  was  otherwise  with  the  prophet  to  whom 
distinctively  the  religious  life  of  the  people  was  en- 
trusted. There  were  no  restrictions  as  to  persons  or 
times  or  places.  It  was  only  required  that  the  teach- 
ing should  be  conformed  to  the  truth  as  divinely  re- 
vealed; and  the  worship  should  be  that  of  the  heart, 
and  the  life,  and  not  simply  of  the  lips.  It  is  only 
when  these  great  fundamentals  were  disregarded 
that  there  was  condemnation  and  punishment  of 
prophets  and  their  adherents.  Punishment  for  viola- 
tion, or  disregard,  of  ritual  was  confined  to  priests 
or  those  who,  without  authority,  sought  to  discharge 
priestly  functions.  It  is  not  necessary  to  cite  texts 
or  refer  to  examples.  All  the  texts  quoted  and  all 
the  cases  cited  in  the  entire  literature  of  our  brethren, 
so  far  as  I  recall,  are  covered  by  the  statement.^ 

Now  Psalmody  was  a  prophetic  and  not  a  priestly 
function.  It  was  a  spiritual  and  not  a  ritual  service. 
It  was  a  service,  moreover,  which  antedated  the  in- 


*The  practically  synchronous  cases  of  Nadab  and  Abihu  (Lev. 
10:1-3),  on  the  one  hand,  and  Eldad  and  Medad  (Num. 
11:16-30),  on  the  other,  indicate  how  differently  from  the 
beginning  the  two  orders  were  regarded. 


TEE  BASAL  PRINCIPLE.  23 

stitution  of  the  priesthood;  and  even  in  the  palmiest 
days  of  priestly  ministration  was  under  other  than 
priestly  superintendence.  1  Chron.  6 :  31,  49.  Nor  was 
the  service  so  guarded  by  restrictions  as  were  the 
functions  of  the  priests.  Uzziah  the  king  was  smitten 
with  leprosy  for  daring  to  enter  the  temple  and  offer 
incense  (1  Chron.  26:16-21),  but  there  was  no  mani- 
festation of  either  human  or  divine  displeasure  when 
Hezekiah  the  king  prepared  songs  of  praise  and  di- 
rected their  use  with  instrumental  accompaniment  in 
the  house  of  the  Lord.  Isa.  38  :20.^  Psalmody  then  is 
an  ordinance  of  spiritual,  as  distinguished  from  ritual, 
worship,  and  is  to  be  regulated  by  the  general  princi- 
ples regulating  religious  worship,  except  so  far  as  it 
has  been  made  the  subject  of  special  revelation.  To  a 
consideration  of  the  extent  to  which  it  has  been  the 
subject  of  such  revelation  attention  will  be  turned  in 
the  next  chapter. 


*So  far  as  the  present  point  is  concerned,  it  is  iirunaterial 
whether  we  read  "my  songs"  or  "my  stringed  instrument."  In 
either  case  he  Avas  supplanting,  or  supplementing,  the  ordi- 
nance of  praise  as  instituted  by  David.    2  Chron.  29 :  25-30. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   BOOK   OP   PSALMS. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  traverse  all  that  our 
brethren  in  their  literature  on  the  subject  have  writ- 
ten respecting  the  Book  of  Psalms.  Much  of  it  is  ex- 
traneous to  the  psalmody  controversy;  and  hence  is 
not  relevant  to  our  present  purpose.  This  fact  has 
been  well  stated  by  one  of  our  Psalm-singing  authors : 

"  It  is  high  time  that  we  were  all,  in  this  controversy, 
brought  back  to  principles  in  common,  and  that  we 
shape  our  discussions  accordingly. 

' '  On  the  one  hand,  most  of  the  treatises  in  favor  of 
a  scripture  psalmody  have  been  apologies  for  the  Book 
of  Psalms,  or  defences  of  their  use  in  the  worship  of 
God,  to  the  exclusion  of  human  compositions ;  or  their 
suitableness  for  worship  in  New  Testament  times ;  or 
their  superior  excellence  to  all  human  songs.  Most 
of  these  forms  of  discussion  involve  mere  truisms — 
matter  beyond  legitimate  debate  among  intelligent 
Christians.  The  Psalms  of  the  Bible  need  no  apology. 
They  need  no  defence;  since  neither  God,  nor  his 
works,  nor  his  word  need  any  defence.  We  make  no 
attempt  to  show  their  fitness  for  the  Avorship  of  God, 
or  the  authority  for  their  use.  God  made  them — 
fitted  them  for  his  praise,  and  commands  us  to  sing. 
Treatises  in  the  forms  referred  to  are  very  well  in  their 
place.  They  are  helpers  of  the  faith  of  pious  Chris- 
tians who  feed  on  God's  word.  Yet  they  may  not 
meet  the  main  points  in  this  issue  on  the  psalm- 
ody question."  Psalmody.  Johnston.  Introduction, 
p.  10. 


THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS.  25 

The  one  question  at  issue  concerns  their  exclusive 
use  in  the  worship  of  God.  The  issue  is  stated  as 
follows  by  another  of  our  brethren : 

"The  question,  then,  is,  Should  not  the  Church 
in  all  instituted  worship,  private,  social,  and  pub- 
lic, confine  herself  and  her  members  in  the  mat- 
ter of  praise  wholly  to  as  literal  a  version  of  the 
Book  of  Psalms  as  can  be  obtained,  adapted  to  be 
SUNG?"  (Capitals  are  the  author^s.)  The  Ordinance 
of  Praise.    By  J.  Claybaugh,  D.D.,  p.  11. 

To  this  question  most  of  our  brethren  say,  yes. 
Some  of  them,  as  well  as  ourselves,  say,  no.  Let  us 
examine  the  reasons  for  their  answers  given  by  those 
who  reply  affirmatively.  We  will  allow  them  to  an- 
swer in  their  own  way,  and  in  their  own  words.  We 
will,  moreover,  give  their  answers  at  such  length  as  to 
give  them  fair  presentation. 

"By  whom  these  songs,  which  were  evidently  com- 
posed by  different  persons  and  on  a  great  variety  of 
occasions,  were  collected  into  a  book  and  arranged 
in  their  present  order,  we  are  not  able  to  determine 
with  absolute  certainty.  There  is,  however,  strong 
probability  in  support  of  the  conclusion,  that  this 
service  was  performed  by  Ezra.  This  distinguished 
priest  and  scribe,  who  acted  a  conspicuous  part  in 
that  important  reformation  which  was  effective  in 
connection  with  the  return  of  the  Jews  from  Baby- 
lon, according  to  Jewish  tradition,  by  divine  direc- 
tion, collected  and  arranged  the  different  portions  of 
the  sacred  writings  then  extant,  and  digested  them  in 
that  systematic  order  in  which  they  have  been  handed 
down  to  us.  But  let  this  matter  be  decided  as  it  may, 
it  is  sufficient  for  us  to  know,  that  whoever  may  have 
collected  these  songs  together,  it  was  done  with  divine 


26  TEE  PSAL3WD7  QUESTION. 

approbation;  for  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament 
refer  to  them  by  the  title  'the  Book  of  Psalms.'  And 
to  use  the  language  of  the  celebrated  writer  already 
referred  to  (Jonathan  Edwards),  'it  is  manifest  that 
the  Book  of  Psalms  was  given  of  God  for  this  end'; 
that  is,  that  it  might  be  used  by  the  church  in  singing 
God's  praise.  'It  was  used  in  the  church  of  Israel  by 
God's  appointment.  This  is  manifest  by  the  title  of 
many  of  the  Psalms,  in  which  they  are  inscribed  to 
the  chief  musician;  that  is,  to  the  man  that  was  ap- 
pointed to  be  the  leader  of  divine  songs  in  the  temple, 
in  the  public  worship  of  Israel.'  In  this  conclusion, 
then,  we  rest.  In  the  revelation  which  God  has  given 
to  his  church,  we  find  a  collection  of  divine  songs,  the 
matter  of  which,  the  titles  by  which  they  are  desig- 
nated, and  the  use  which  was  originally  made  of  them 
with  divine  approbation,  manifest  that  the  specific 
end  for  which  they  were  given  was,  that  they  should 
be  employed  in  singing  God's  praise;  and  being  com- 
municated to  the  church  by  her  God  and  King,  for 
this  purpose,  they  should  be  used  in  this  part  of  di- 
vine worship.  .  .  .  We  have  already  had  occasion  to 
remark,  that  in  ancient  days,  on  various  occasions,  in- 
dividuals, under  the  influence  of  the  spirit  of  inspira- 
tion, gave  expression  to  the  gratitude  of  their  hearts 
in  a  song  of  praise.  Such  songs  of  praise  are  found 
in  various  parts  of  the  Bible.  But  in  process  of  time, 
a  great  variety  of  songs,  composed  by  different  men 
on  various  occasions,  were  collected  together  into  one 
book,  which  not  only  has  a  place  in  the  volume  of  in- 
spiration, but  to  which  God  himself  has  given  a  pe- 
culiar title,  'The  Book  of  Psalms,'  or  songs  of  praise. 
The  peculiar  title  of  the  book  designates  the  end  for 
which  it  was  specially  intended.  And  it  is  a  fact  which 
deserves  particular  notice,  that  some  of  the  songs  con- 
tained in  the  Book  of  Psalms  are  found  likewise  in 
other  parts  of  the  Bible.  The  eighteenth  Psalm  is 
found  in  the  second  book  of  Samuel,  and  the  ninety- 


TEE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS.  27 

sixth  and  parts  of  some  other  psalms  are  found  in  the 
second  book  of  Chronicles.  Other  songs,  such  as  the 
song  of  Moses  at  the  Red  Sea,  the  song  of  Deborah  and 
Barak  and  others  found  in  different  parts  of  the  Bible, 
are  not  transferred  to  the  Book  of  Psalms.  And  the 
question  naturally  arises,  Why  is  this  distinction 
made?  Why  are  some  of  these  songs,  which  are  found 
in  other  parts  of  the  Bible,  introduced  likewise  into 
the  Book  of  Psalms,  while  others  have  no  place  in  that 
collection?  I  can  conceive  of  no  answer  so  satisfac- 
tory as  this :  that  the  Book  of  Psalms  being  designed 
for  permanent  use  in  the  worship  of  God,  those  songs 
have  a  place  in  this  book,  which  in  the  estimation  of 
infinite  wisdom  were  best  adapted  to  the  edification 
of  the  church  in  all  ages."  Dr.  Pressly  on  Psalmody, 
pp.  80,  81,  87,  88.  These  passages,  as  well  as  nearly 
the  entire  chapters  from  which  they  are  taken,  are  en- 
dorsed by  the  compilers  of  The  True  Psalmody;  and 
are  incorporated  into  their  work.  The  True  Psalm- 
ody, pp.  59,  60,  66,  67. 

"God  has  given  the  church  a  whole  book  of  divine 
songs,  inscribed  by  himself.  The  Book  of  Psalms,  or 
more  literally.  The  Book  op  Hymns.  This  title  ob- 
viously denotes  the  design  for  which  this  book  has 
been  given ;.  that  it  should  be  employed  in  the  solemn 
service  of  praising  God,  to  the  exclusion  of  everything 
that  can  only  boast  a  human  origin.  The  idea  of 
exclusion  is  certainly  conveyed  by  the  emphatic  lan- 
guage, The  Psalms,  The  Book  of  Psalms.''  Preface 
to  the  Psalms.    Dr.  Martin,  p.  19. 

"The  very  title  of  the  Book  of  Psalms,  and  the  fact 
that  it  contains  some  songs  in  other  parts  of  Scripture 
and  leaves  out  others,  proves  that  it  was  given  to  be 
the  EXCLUSIVE  anthology  of  the  Church  of  Israel. 
Psalm  18  is  found  2  Sam.  22,  and  Psalm  96  and 
Psalm  105 : 1-15  are  found  1  Chron.  21,  while  several 
odes,  such  as  the  song  at  the  Red  Sea,  the  song  of 
Deborah  and  Barak,  etc.,  are  not  taken  into  the  collec- 
tion of  the  Book  of  Psalms.    Now,  why  is  this?    Can 


28  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

any  other  reason  be  assigned  than  the  obvious  one  that 
the  Holy  Spirit  designed  in  the  Book  of  Psalms  to 
furnish  the  Church  with  a  collection  of  songs  which 
should  be  both  sufficient,  and  exclusively  the  subject 
matter  of  the  Church's  praise?"  The  Ordinance  of 
Praise.    By  J.  Claybaugh,  D.D.,  p.  21. 

"After  that  they  were  collected  into  a  book  and 
placed  in  the  sacred  canon  by  the  same  authority  as 
the  other  books  of  the  Old  Testament— whether  by  the 
hands  of  Ezra,  which  is  most  probable,  or  of  some 
other  person  unknown,  matters  not  to  the  argument. 
Besides  the  testimony  of  the  Jews,  particularly  in 
the  Septuagint  translation,  we  have  the  conclusive 
testimony  of  the  Saviour  and  his  apostles  that  they 
continued  to  be  received  and  used  as  a  book  of  praises 
down  to  their  day. 

"But  were  these  the  only  ones  that  were  given  for 
this  purpose?  AVe  answer,  yes.  Because— 1.  No  men- 
tion is  made  of  any  others  having  been  used  in  the 
regular  and  permanent  worship  of  God ;  and  2.  What- 
ever others  were  used  occasionally  even  in  the  worship 
of  God,  as  the  song  of  Habakkuk,  were  not  designed  for 
general  use,  else  they  would  have  been  put  into  this 
divine  collection."  An  Authorized  Psalmody.  By 
J.  G.  Carson,  D.D.,  pp.  24,  25. 

' '  This  conclusion  is  confirmed  from  the  matter  and 
structure  of  the  Psalms.  They  are  full  of  praises  to 
God  for  AA'hat  he  is  himself,  and  for  his  wonderful 
works  in  creation,  providence,  and  redemption.  They 
are  written  in  the  peculiar  style  of  Hebrew  poetry,  so 
that  they  could  be  sung  or  chanted.  And  this  con- 
clusion is  still  further  confirmed  by  the  acknowledged 
fact  that  the  Psalms  were  used  by  the  Jewish  Church 
in  the  worship  of  God.  No  mention  is  made,  by  either 
inspired  or  uninspired  writers,  of  any  other.  In  the 
temple  and  in  the  synagogue,  down  to  the  time  of  the 
incarnation  and  ever  since,  they  have  been  chanted 
by  the  children  of  faithful  Abraham. ' '  The  Inspired 
Psalmody.    By  VVilliam  J.  Reid,  p.  6, 


TEE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS.  29 

Analyzing  these  various  statements  we  find  that 
they  contain  two,  and  only  two,  arguments  in  behalf 
of  the  position  for  which  they  are  submitted.  These 
arguments  may  be  succinctly  stated  as  follows :  1.  God, 
having  provided  a  book  of  praise,  has  thereby  indi- 
cated that  it  is  his  will  that  it  be  used  exclusively  in 
the  ordinance  of  praise.  2.  Judged  by  the  use  made 
of  it,  such  was  evidently  the  light  in  which  the  later 
Jewish  and  early  Christian  church  regarded  it.  These 
are  plausible  arguments,  and  rest  upon  assumption  of 
principles  of  conceded  validity.  But  at  once  the  ques- 
tions arise:  AVas  this  book  divinely  given  as  an  ex- 
clusive manual  of  praise?  As  a  matter  of  fact,  did 
the  later  Jewish  and  early  Christian  church  so  re- 
gard it  ?  It  is  manifest  that  these  are  questions  which 
cannot  be  answered  by  appeal  exclusively  to  the 
canonical  Scriptures.  They  cannot  for  the  reason 
that  the  compilation  of  the  Psalter  and  the  completion 
of  the  Old  Testament  canon  were  practically  syn- 
chronous events.  This  is  true  whatever  may  be  the 
facts  as  to  the  date  of  those  accomplishments,  or  as 
to  the  person,  or  persons,  effecting  them.  And  yet 
data  for  a  conclusive  answer  are  not  wanting: 

1.  As  all  the  above  quotations  from  the  writings  of 
our  brethren  indicate,  previous  to  the  compilation  of 
the  Psalter  worshippers  were  not  restricted  in  their 
songs  of  praise  to  those  now  found  within  it.  As  all 
recognize,  songs  other  than  those  contained  therein 
were  acceptably  used  in  worship.  And  yet  the 
Psalter,  as  we  have  it,  is  simply  a  combination  of  a 
number  of  Psalters  previously  existing.  It  is  a  fact, 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  ordinary  English 


30  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

reader  only  by  the  recent  revisions  of  the  Bible,  that 
the  Psalter  is  itself  composed  of  five  books.  It  is  out- 
side our  purpose  to  go  into  details  with  regard  to 
these.  It  is  enough  to  note  the  fact  that  our  present 
Psalter,  like  some  of  our  modern  Gospel  hymn  books, 
is  Nos.  1,  2,  3,  4  and  5  combined.^  During  the  Old 
Testament  period  the  existent  Psalter  was  used,  but 
not  exclusively.  When,  in  the  very  beginning  of  his 
reign,  Hezekiah  sought  to  restore  his  kingdom  to  its 
normal  condition,  he  "commanded  the  Levites  to  sing 
praise  unto  the  Lord  with  the  words  of  David,  and  of 
Asaph  the  seer. ' '  2  Chron.  29  :  30.  He  then  probably 
had  Nos.  1  and  2  and  possibly  uncollected  portions  of 
No.  3  of  our  Psalter.  But  he  did  not  always  confine 
himself  to  these.  After  his  restoration  to  health  he 
himself  composed  songs  for  use  in  the  temple  worship. 
Isa.  38:20.^    And  still  later,  probably  in  the  days  of 


'"This  is  a  second  edition  of  the  14th  Psalm,  with  some 
variations.  Its  occurrence  is  a  strong  proof  that  the  present 
book  is  really  a  second  collection  of  sacred  songs  made  sub- 
sequently to  the  first  book,  since  the  same  collector  would 
scarcely  have  given  the  same  Psalm  twice."  A  Critical  and 
Exegetical  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Psalms  with  a  New 
Translation  by  James  G.  Murphy,  LL.D.,  T.C.D.,  p.  313  in 
note  on  Ps.  53.  See  a  similar  note  on  p.  378  in  connection 
with  Ps.  70. 

'When  the  above  was  written  the  writer  was  not  aware  that 
the  rendering  of  Isa.  38;  20  had  been  challenged.  But,  by  one 
of  the  authors  of  The  Psalms  in  Worship,  it  has  been  chal- 
lenged so  vigorously  and  effectively  that  I  would  withdraw  the 
statement  but  for  two  reasons:  1.  There  is  something  to  be 
said  in  behalf  of  the  rendering  of  revised  versions.  The 
charges  made  indicate  that  the  passage  received  the  special 


THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS.  31 

Josiah,  the  prophet  Habakkuk  did  the  same  thing. 
Hab.  3 :  19.  It  is  evident,  too,  that  some  of  the  songs 
contained  in  our  Psalter  are  post-exilic.  It  would  seem 
then  that  all  through  the  Old  Testament  period,  on  oc- 
casion, new  songs  were  employed  in  worship,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  compilations  of  former  songs  ex- 
isted. It  was  not  then  a  principle  of  the  Old  Testament 
dispensation  that  a  Psalter,  or  compilation  of  songs, 
precluded  the  use  of  other  songs  not  included  in  it. 

2.  There  is  no  command  in  the  New  Testament  re- 
stricting a  worshipper  to  the  Psalter  in  the  service  of 
praise.  Of  course  this  declaration  will  be  promptly 
and  vigorously  challenged  by  our  brethren.  They  will 
reply  by  citing  James  5 :  13 :  "Is  any  merry?  let  him 
sing  psalms."     Kespecting  this  Dr.   Pressly  writes: 

"In  what  sense  is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the 
primitive  Christians  would  understand  the  apostolic 
direction,  'Is  any  merry?  Let  him  sing  psalms.'  To 
assist  the  plain  Christian  in  determining  Avhat  is  the 
proper  answer  to  this  inquiry,  let  me  propose  another 
question.  When  our  Lord  said  to  his  hearers,  '  Search 
the  Scriptures, '  in  what  sense  is  it  to  be  supposed  that 
this  direction  would  be  understood  ?  No  one  will  pre- 
tend that  our  Lord  designed  that  his  hearers  should 
understand  him  as  instructing  them  to  prepare  writ- 
ings, the  matter  of  which  was  to  be  taken  from  the 

attention  of  the  revisers.  One  of  the  authorities  quoted  by  the 
brother — Cheyne — was  a  member  of  the  British  Old  Testament 
Revision  Committee.  If  the  case  is  as  clear  as  the  brother 
maintains,  it  seems  strange  that  both  the  British  and  Ameri- 
can revisers  should  render  as  they  do.  2.  The  retention  of  the 
statement  gives  me  opportunity  to  say  that  I  lay  no  stress 
upon  the  case.  There  are  a  sufficient  number  of  conceded  cases 
to  establish  my  argument,  as  I  shall  note  later. 


32  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

Bible,  which  they  might  consult  for  their  improve- 
ment, instead  of  searching  the  Holy  Scriptures  for 
their  edification.  Equally  unreasonable  would  it  be 
to  suppose  that  the  apostolic  direction,  with  regard  to 
singing  psalms,  could  be  understood  by  the  primitive 
Christians  as  authorizing  them  to  prepare  psalms 
to  be  used  in  the  worship  of  God,  instead  of  those 
which  he  himself  had  provided  in  his  word.  As  the 
command  of  Christ,  'Search  the  Scriptures,'  sup- 
poses that  there  were  in  existence  sacred  writings,  with 
which  those  to  whom  the  command  was  addressed 
were  acquainted,  so  the  apostolic  direction,  'sing 
psalms,'  supposes  that  there  were  psalms  in  existence 
which  those  to  whom  the  direction  was  given  were  to 
use.  Those  Christians  to  whom  the  words  of  the 
Apostle  James  were  originally  addressed  knew  full 
well  that  among  the  sacred  writings  which  God  had 
given  to  his  church,  there  was  a  '  Book  of  Psalms. '  And 
the  exhortation  to  sing  psalms  would  naturally  be  un- 
derstood by  them  as  a  direction  to  make  use  of  the 
psalms  which  the  Spirit  of  infinite  wisdom  had  already 
provided. ' '    Dr.  Pressly  on  Psalmody,  pp.  84,  85. 

It  is  evident  at  a  glance  that  this  whole  statement 
is  based  upon  the  idea  that  in  the  exhortation  of  the 
apostle  we  have  a  transitive  verb  and  its  object  noun. 
But  as  we  have  already  seen,  in  another  connection— 
pages  19,  20— this  is  not  the  case.  The  assumption 
then  being  a  mistaken  one  the  inference  based  upon 
it  is  invalidated. 

There  are  two  other  texts  to  which,  with  less  con- 
fidence, some  of  our  brethren  appeal.^  But  these,  for 
reasons,  will  be  reserved  for  special  treatment  in  the 
next  chapter. 

'One  brother  cites  1  Chron.  16:4,7;  2  Chron.  29:30;  Ps. 
105:2;   95:1,2;  Neh.  12:24. 


TEE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS.  33 

3.  We  have  no  direct  scriptural  warrant  for  the 
belief  that  our  Saviour  himself  ever  sang  a  Psalm. 
So  far  as  I  recall,  the  only  occasion  on  which  it  is  im- 
pliedly asserted  that  Jesus  sang  was  in  connection 
with  the  observance  of  the  last  passover.  And  then 
the  expression  is,  "When  they  had  sung  an  hymn," 
literally,  having  hymned.  Matt.  26:30.  Now  I  do 
not  for  a  moment  intend  even  to  suggest  the  possi- 
bility that  it  was  a  hymn,  in  the  modern  sense,  that 
Jesus  then  sang.  It  was  without  doubt  the  Egyptian, 
or  common,  Hallel  of  the  Jews,  which  consisted  of  the 
six  Psalms— 113-118  inclusive.  We  all  so  believe. 
But  we  so  believe  because  of  our  knowledge  of  con- 
temporaneous Jewish  custom.  And  this  knowledge 
of  their  custom  comes,  not  from  canonical  scripture 
of  either  Old  or  New  Testament,  but  from  contempo- 
rary Jewish  literature. 

4.  In  the  times  of  our  Saviour  the  Jews  did  not  con- 
fine themselves  to  the  Psalms  in  their  praise  service. 
This  same  contemporary  literature  which  assures  us 
that  Jesus  and  his  disciples  sang  Psalms  at  the  last 
passover  also  assures  us  that  the  Jews  sang  songs 
other  than  Psalms  in  their  stated  Sabbath  services. 

' '  The  Sabbath  service  was  in  every  respect  the  same 
as  on  other  days,  except  that  at  the  close  of  the 
ordinary  morning  sacrifice  an  additional  offering  of 
two  lambs,  with  its  appropriate  meat  and  drink- 
offering,  was  brought.  When  the  drink-offering  of 
the  ordinary  morning  sacrifice  was  poured  out,  the 
Levites  sang  Psa.  92  in  three  sections,  the  priests 
drawing,  at  the  close  of  each,  three  blasts  from  their 
trumpets,  and  the  people  worshipping.  At  the  close 
of  the  additional  Sabbath  sacrifice,  when  its  drink- 


34  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

offering  was  brought,  the  Levites  sang  the  'Song  of 
Moses'  in  Dent.  32.  This  'hymn'  was  divided  into 
six  portions,  for  as  many  Sabbaths  (verses  1-6;  7-12; 
13-18;  19-28;  29-39;  40  to  end).  Each  portion  was 
sung  in  three  sections,  with  threefold  blasts  of  the 
priests'  trumpets,  the  people  worshipping  at  each 
pause.  If  a  Sabbath  and  a  'New  Moon'  fell  on  the 
same  day,  the  Sabbath  hymn  was  sung  in  preference 
to  that  for  the  new  moon ;  if  a  feast  day  fell  on  a  Sab- 
bath, the  Sabbath  sacrifice  was  offered  before  that 
prescribed  for  the  day.  At  the  evening  sacrifice  on 
the  Sabbath  the  song  of  Moses  in  Ex.  15  was  sung. ' ' 
The  Temple,  Its  Ministry  and  Services,  as  they  were 
at  the  time  of  Jesus  Christ.  By  Alfred  Edersheim, 
D.D.,  pp.  158,  159. 

It  thus  becomes  manifest  that  the  most  plausible  of 
all  the  arguments  of  our  brethren  in  behalf  of  the 
exclusive  use  of  the  "Psalms  of  David"  in  the  formal 
worship  of  God  is  utterly  without  historical  justifi- 
cation.^ 


'The  argument  traversed  in  this  chapter  had  fresh,  scholarly, 
and  somewhat  original  presentation  in  a  paper  read  at  the 
Pittsburgh  Psalmody  Convention.  It  is  found  in  The  Psalms 
in  Worship,  pp.  72-90. 

(A)  In  his  opening  paragraph  the  writer  asks  and  answers 
thus: 

"Was  the  Psalter  used  in  divine  worship  in  the  Old 
Testament  church  ?  Were  the  Psalms  used  in  connection  with 
the  services  of  the  temple  and  the  synagogue?  Were  they  used 
exclusively  in  tliese  services?  If  these  questions  can  be  an- 
swered in  the  afTirmative,  then  we  have  solid  ground  on  which 
to  build.  If  these  questions  cannot  be  answered  in  the  affirma- 
tive, then  there  is  an  impairment  of  the  foundation  on  which 
our  doctrine  of  the  exclusive  use  of  the  Psalms  stands.  In  a 
sense  this  question  may  be  said  to  'be  the  crux  of  the  whole 
discussion  about  Psalmody.' " 


THE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS.  35 

This  is  very  true.  The  reader  will  note  that  there  are  three 
questions.  The  two  first  we  answer  affirmatively  as  unhesi- 
tatingly as  our  brethren.'  The  whole  controversy  then  lies 
about  the  answer  to  the  third  one. 

{B)   The  next  paragiaph  reads  as  follows: 

"The  Psalter,  like  the  Bible,  was  a  growth.  David  may  be 
called  the  father  of  Psalmody.  He  left  the  impress  of  his  in- 
spired genius  on  the  whole  subject  of  temple  praise.  To  the 
Davidic  collection  of  Psalms  others  were  added  in  the  days  of 
Isaiah  and  Jeremiah.  The  period  of  the  Exile  was  prolific  of 
Psalmody,  as  it  also  was  of  prophetic  and  historical  literature. 
But  the  greatest  number  of  Psalms  were  written  after  the 
Babylonian  Exile,  during  the  Restoration  Period,  as  it  is  called. 
Just  when  the  last  Psalms  were  written  we  do  not  know.  Most 
modern  authorities  and  some  older  ones,  e.g.,  John  Calvin, 
are  disposed  to  make  the  Seventy-Fourth  and  others  to  be 
as  late  as  the  Maccabean  times.  We  may  most  safely  con- 
clude that  the  Psalms  were  all  written  and  collected  into  the 
Psalter  previous  to  100  B.C.,  and  probably  at  a  much  earlier 
date.  Whatever  view  we  take  as  to  the  date  of  the  completion 
of  the  Psalter,  it  is  apparent  that  it  was  a  matter  of  growth. 
Psalms  were  written  by  David  and  others  as  they  were  moved 
by  the  Holy  Ghost.  These  Psalms  were  gathered  into  little 
hymnals  from  time  to  time.  Combinations  of  these  hymnals 
were  made  until  there  were  five  Psalm  books.  Finally  these  five 
were  combined  into  one  Psalter,  our  present  Book  of  Psalms." 

Barring  a  perhaps  too  generous  acceptance  of  the  results 
of  modern  criticism  in  respect  to  the  authorship  and  date  of 
the  Psalms,  this  is  an  admirable  statement  of  the  facts  in  the 
case,  and  fully  confirms  what  has  been  written  above  respect- 
ing the  formation  of  the  Psalter. 

(C)  The  writer  then  proceeds  to  answer  the  three  questions 
propounded  in  the  first  of  the  two  paragi-aphs  just  quoted.  As 
the  answer  to  the  two  first  questions  is  not  disputed,  we 
pass  to  the  answer  to  the  third  one.  The  conclusion  reached 
is  stated  as  follows: 


•Except  as  to  praise  in  the  synagogue  prior  to  the  destruction  of  the  temple. 
The  point  is  wholly  immaterial  here,  hut  I  accept  the  testimony  of  Edersheim. 


36  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

"Now  what  have  we,  on  good  authority,  as  having  been  sung 
in  the  service  of  the  temple  in  addition  to  the  Psalms?  The 
two  songs  of  Moses,  and  probably  the  song  of  Habakkuk — all 
three  of  them  inspired  material,  and  all  found  in  the  Bible. 
How  much  basis  this  little  mite  for  the  making  of  hymn  books 
of  human  composition  for  use  in  the  worship  of  God!  There 
might  have  been  a  dozen  other  inspired  songs  sung  in  the 
temple  without  affecting  our  position  in  the  least.  These  songs 
of  Moses  and  Habakkuk  were  inspired  songs.  Our  claim  is 
for  an  inspired  Psalmody.  We  are  not  averse  to  the  singing 
of  inspired  songs  wherever  found,  such  as  the  songs  of  Moses. 
We  do  not  believe  that  they  will  ever  be  sung.  The  singing  of 
inspired  songs  other  than  the  Psalms  has  never  been  a  practical 
question.  It  will  never  be  a  practical  question,  for  there  are 
less  than  a  score  of  such  songs  in  the  entire  Bible  that  could 
be  sung.  The  raising  of  this  question  of  the  singing  of  in- 
spired songs  other  than  those  found  in  the  Psalter  has  always 
been  a  mere  quibble.  Those  who  have  raised  it  have  never 
attempted  to  have  them  sung.  They  have  never  desired  to 
have  them  sung." 

This  is  a  remarkable  paragraph,  and  is  deserving  of  careful 
consideration. 

1.  Its  characterization  of  the  argument  of  hymn  singers  as 
"a  mere  quibble"  is  an  unhappy  one.  It  ceases  to  be  simply 
disparagement  of  an  argument  and  becomes  as  well  impeach- 
ment of  one's  opponent. 

2.  Despite  the  writer's  protest,  the  concession  that  songs 
other  than  Psalms  were  sung  in  the  temple  service  does  affect 
"our  position"  very  seriously.  The  question  is  as  to  the  "ex- 
clusive" use  of  the  Psalms  in  the  temple  worship;  and  the 
writer  has  said,  in  the  paragraph  above  quoted,  that  if  this 
cannot  be  answered  affirmatively  the  foundation  of  their  doc- 
trine is  impaired.  He  does  not — cannot — answer  it  affirma- 
tively; and  yet  says,  substantially,  "our  position  is  not  affected 
in  the  least." 

3.  The  writer's  assertion  "Our  claim  is  for  an  inspired 
Psalmody.  We  are  not  averse  to  the  singing  of  inspired  songs 
wherever  found,  such  as  the  songs  of  Moses,"  does  not  bar- 


TEE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS.  37 

monize  with  the  actual  argumentation  of  our  brethren.  An- 
other brother,  in  treating  of  The  Scriptural  Laws  of  Worship 
in  a  paper  presented  to  the  Chicago  Convention,  writes  as 
follows:  "With  respect  therefore  to  the  Scriptural  law  of 
worship,  I  submit  the  following  proposition,  viz.:  I.  What- 
soever is  not  commanded  in  the  Scriptures  is  forbidden. 
II.  The  Bible  Psalter  alone  is  commanded  to  be  used  in  the 
praise  service  in  the  worship  of  God.  III.  Therefore,  all  matter 
of  praise  besides  the  Bible  Psalter  is  by  the  Scriptural  law 
of  worship  forbidden  to  be  used  in  the  praise  service  in  the 
worship  of  God.  .  .  .  According  to  this  law,  a  lyric,  to  be 
eligible  to  the  praise  service  in  the  worship  of  God,  must  have 
these  two  requisites  and -qualifications,  viz.:  divine  authoriza- 
tion and  divine  inspiration.  Paraphrases  and  poems  from 
other  books  of  the  Bible  are  excluded  by  the  Scriptural  law  of 
worship  from  the  praise  service  in  God's  worship  for  reasons 
such  as  these:  1.  Other  parts  of  Scripture  are  equally  in- 
spired with  the  Psalter,  but  they  have  no  seal  of  divine  ap- 
pointment for  purposes  of  praise."  The  Psalms  in  Worship, 
pp.  32,  33,  37. 

4.  Two  things  are  to  be  said  in  reference  to  the  writer's 
exclamation,  "How  much  basis  this  little  mite  for  the  making 
of  hymn  books  of  human  composition  for  use  in  the  worship  of 
God!" 

(a)  It  is  not  a  "little  mite."  By  his  own  concession,  relying 
upon  the  testimony  of  Lightfoot  in  "The  Temple  Service," 
songs  other  than  those  in  the  Psalter  were  regularly  sung  at 
the  morning  and  evening  sacrifice  every  weekly  Sabbath. 
Lightfoot's  testimony  is  the  same  as  that  of  Edersheim  already 
quoted.  Beside^,  he  concedes  that  Habakkuk's  song  was  also 
probably  sung. 

(&)  It  does  not  furnish  any  basis  for  uninspired  hymns.  We 
do  not  claim  that  it  does.  That  is  not  the  point  presently  in 
dispute.  The  point  is  as  to  the  exclusive  use  of  the  songs  of 
the  Psalter  in  the  temple  worship.  If  any  United  Presbyterian 
church  should,  regularly  every  Lord's  day,  in  addition  to  the 
Psalms,  sing  a  hymn  at  both  the  jnorning  and  evening  service, 
it  could  not  be  said  of  it  that  it  used  the  Psalms  exclusively 


38  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

in  its  worship.  That  is  the  point.  The  Psalter  was  not  a 
manual  to  which  the  Old  Testament  church  was  confined. 

5.  The  point  respecting  the  use  of  songs  other  than  those  in 
the  Psalter  is  not  "a  mere  quibble."  (a)  Dr.  J.  B.  Johnston's 
book  on  Psalmody,  from  which  quotations  have  been  given — a 
book  of  172  pages — was  written  in  avowed  advocacy  of  an  in- 
spired as  distinguished  from  an  authorized  Psalmody.  (6)  The 
principle  does  not  have  reference  merely  to  the  technically 
lyrical  portions  of  the  Scriptures,  but  is  designed  to  include 
the  "paraphrases."  These  are  a  collection  of  sixty-seven 
metrical  renderings  of  various  portions  of  the  Scriptures — 
thirty-two  of  them  taken  from  the  Old  and  thirty-five  from  the 
New  Testament.  They  were  formerly  bound  up  along  with 
Rouse's  version  of  the  Psalms  in  the  Bibles  and  Testaments 
imported  from  Britain.  For  generations  they  were  used  along 
with  the  Psalms  in  the  British  churches,  and  to  some  extent 
are  so  used  to  this  day.  Although  they  have  never  been  much 
used  in  this  country,  the  fact  of  their  use  in  the  mother 
country  and  her  colonies  made  the  Psalm-singing  churches 
slow  to  exclude  them  on  principle  from  the  lawful  songs  of 
praise.  In  fact,  as  Dr.  Johnston  asserts,  they  have  never 
done  so. 

In  fact,  it  was  a  question  in  regard  to  songs  other  than  the 
Psalms  addressed  to  me  by  an  intelligent  parishioner  of  Asso- 
ciate training  that  first  led  me  to  serious  thinking  on  the 
Psalmody  question.  I  was  in  my  first  charge,  and  had  preached 
my  first  Psalmody  sermon.  The  moment  I  came  out  of  the 
pulpit  he  met  me  and  questioned  me.  I  told  him  I  would  think 
about  it.  That  ended  the  matter  so  far  as  he  was  concerned, 
for  we  never  spoke  of  it  afterward;  but  a  question  was  raised 
which  for  a  long  time  remained  without  definite  ansAver. 

The  reader  is  now  prepared  to  appreciate  the  statement  made 
at  the  close  of  my  first  chapter.  As  developed  in  this  con- 
troversy, the  phrases  "an  authorized  Psalmody"  and  "an 
inspired  Psalmody"  designate,  logically  regarded,  two  quite 
different  things.  Concession  that  songs  other  than  those  con- 
tained in  the  Psalter  were  regularly  used  in  the  temple  service 
long  after  the  Psalter,  as  we  now  have  it,  was  compiled,  not 


TEE  BOOK  OF  PSALMS.  39 

only  impairs  the  argument  in  behalf  of  the  Psalter  as  the  ex- 
clusive manual  of  praise — it  invalidates  it. 

By  the  way,  the  concession  of  this  paper  is  respectfully 
called  to  the  attention  of  the  brother  vpho  writes:  "The  hymns 
contained  in  the  Psalter  were  the  only  matter  of  praise  in  the 
formal  worship  of  the  Old  Testament  church.  It  seems  entirely 
safe  to  affirm  this  without  any  hesitation.  There  is  no  hint 
or  trace,  either  in  the  Bible  or  in  Jewish  tradition,  of  other 
songs  being  used  in  worship.  While  there  are  other  highly- 
wrought  pieces  of  devotional  poetry  in  the  Old  Testament  out- 
side the  Book  of  Psalms,  the  indications  seem  to  be  clear  that 
these  were  not  used  as  the  matter  of  praise  in  the  formal 
worship  of  God."    The  Psalms  in  Worship,  p.  52. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW   TESTAMENT. 

There  are  two  very  similar  texts  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment that  together  definitely  determine  its  teaching 
in  reference  to  Psalmody.  These  are  Eph,  5 :  18- 
20,  and  Col.  3:16.  They  read  as  follows:  "And 
be  not  drunken  with  wine,  wherein  is  riot ;  but  be  filled 
with  the  Spirit;  speaking  one  to  another  in  psalms 
and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  singing  and  making 
melody  with  your  heart  to  the  Lord;  giving  thanks 
always  for  all  things  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  to  God,  even  the  Father,  subjecting  yourselves 
one  to  another  in  the  fear  of  Christ."  "Let  the  word 
of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom ;  teaching 
and  admonishing  one  another  with  psalms  and  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs,  singing  with  grace  in  your  hearts 
unto  God." 

We  have  already  noted  the  fact  that  there  are  three 
theories  of  Psalmody.  We  have  designated  these  as 
the  Davidic  or  Authorized,  the  Scripture  or  In- 
spired, and  the  Scriptural  or  Evangelical.  Now  which 
of  these  teachings,  or  systems,  is  justified  by  these 
passages?    Let  us  examine  and  determine. 

1.  the  davidic  or  authorized  psalmody. 

Most  of  our  Psalm-singing  brethren  claim,  with 
more  or  less  confidence,  that  these  passages  warrant,  if 
they  do  not  even  require,  the  exclusive  use  of  the 


PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.   41 

Psalms  of  David  in  formal  worship.    Their  position  is 
thus  stated  by  representative  writers: 

"To  what  does  the  apostle  refer  when  he  employs 
the  terms,  'psalms,  hymns  and  spiritual  songs'? 
Various  attempts  have  been  made  by  expositors  to 
designate  the  distinction  between  the  compositions 
indicated  by  these  different  terms.  There  seems,  how- 
ever, to  be  no  means  of  arriving  at  any  certain  con- 
clusion. And  the  probability  is,  that  while  there  is 
doubtless  a  shade  of  distinction  between  them,  these 
different  terms  indicate  sacred  songs  which  are  sub- 
stantially the  same.  Between  them  there  is  probably 
about  the  same  difference  as  exists  between  the  terms 
laAvs  and  statutes  and  judgments,  in  application  to  the 
word  of  God. 

"But  still  the  apostle  must  have  had  some  partic- 
ular design  in  employing  these  different  terms ;  and 
it  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  Colossians  would  under- 
stand to  what  he  referred.  To  what,  then,  may  we 
suppose,  did  the  apostle  refer  when  he  directed  the 
Colossians  to  teach  and  admonish  one  another  in 
'psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs'?  In  reply 
to  this  inquiry,  I  would  say  that  it  is  well  known  that 
there  were  in  existence  such  sacred  songs.  There  was 
at  that  time  in  the  possession  of  the  church  a  book  of 
divine  songs,  which  constituted  a  part  of  the  word  of 
God  or  the  word  of  Christ.  And  in  the  Greek  transla- 
tion, called  the  Septuagint,  which  was  then  in  common 
use,  we  find  the  very  terms  which  are  here  employed. 
In  some  of  the  titles  prefixed  to  the  psalms  we  find  one 
of  these  terms ;  in  others,  two  of  them ;  and  in  the  title 
of  the  76th  Psalm  all  three  occur.  And  from  the  fact 
that  these  different  terms  are  applied  to  the  same 
psalm,  the  opinion  seems  to  be  confirmed,  that  what- 
ever shade  of  distinction  may  exist  between  them,  they 
are  substantially  of  the  same  import.  But  what  the 
reader  is  particularly  desired  to  notice  is,  that  when 


42  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

this  direction  was  given  to  the  Colossians,  they  had  in 
their  possession  such  divine  songs  as  are  here  men- 
tioned. They  are  exhorted  to  teach  and  admonish  one 
another  in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs ;  and 
we  know  that  they  had  such  in  their  possession,  which 
were  the  productions  of  the  Spirit  of  inspiration.  And 
if  any  songs  are  worthy  of  the  epithet  'spiritual,' 
sui-ely  it  is  appropriate  to  those  which  are  the  songs 
of  the  Spirit.  Such  sacred  songs,  we  know,  were  in 
existence ;  such  were  then  in  the  possession  of  the  Col- 
ossians; and  to  such  we  believe  the  apostle  referred." 
Dr.  Pressly  on  Psalmody,  pp.  140,  141. 

''But  we  are  referred  to  Col.  3 :16 ;  and  to  the  paral- 
lel place,  Eph.  5:19.  Now,  here,  we  are  told,  the 
apostle  enjoins  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  as  well  as 
psalms.  Surely  here  is  plain  proof.  Really !  Just 
as  if  there  were  no  hymns  and  spiritual  songs  in  the 
book  of  Psalms.  It  may  be  well  to  remind  the  reader 
that  in  the  Septuagint  translation  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, which  was  the  one  in  use  in  gentile  countries, 
and  from  which  the  apostles  generally  quoted,  and 
from  which  the  Ephesians  and  Colossians  doubtless 
read,  the  psalms  have  all  these  titles,  many  being 
called  Psalmos,  or  a  psalm,  others  huninos,  or  a  hymn, 
and  others  ode,  or  a  song.  ...  In  Ps.  72 :  20, 
which  closes  one  of  the  divisions  of  the  Book  of 
Psalms,  we  read,  'The  hymns  of  David,  the  son  of 
Jesse,  are  ended.'  The  psalms  from  120  to  134  in- 
clusive are  entitled  odes  or  songs.  In  Chronicles  and 
Nehemiah  they  are  often  called  hymns  and  songs,  and 
the  singing  of  them  is  called  hymning.  Josephus 
speaks  of  them  in  similar  terms;  and  Eusebius,  quot- 
ing Ps.  33 :  9  calls  David  '  a  prophet  discoursing  of 
God  in  his  hymns.'  Then  it  is  plain  that  in  the  Book 
of  Psalms  the  Christians  of  Ephesus  and  Colosse 
could  find  the  whole  variety  of  sacred  poesy  which  the 
apostle  enjoined  them  to  use,  instead  of  singing  the 
bacchanalian  and  libidinous  songs  used  by  their  gen- 


PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT,    43 

tile  neighbors,  and  by  themselves  in  their  former  gen- 
tile state."  The  Ordinance  of  Praise.  By  J.  Clay- 
baugh,  D.D.,  pp.  28,  29. 

"But  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  hymns  or 
spiritual  songs  were  anything  different  from  the 
Psalms,  A  Psalm  is  a  hymn,  and  a  hymn  is  a  spiritual 
song.  In  the  titles  prefixed  to  the  Psalms  in  our 
Bibles,  some  are  called  'Psalms,'  and  some  'Psalms  or 
songs';  and  there  are  in  the  original  several  different 
words  which  are  all  translated  Psalms.  Hebrew 
scholars  are  not  agreed  as  to  the  exact  difference  in 
the  meaning  of  these  different  words,  but  the  transla- 
tors of  the  Septuagint  have  rendered  them  by  the 
terms,  'Psalms,  Hymns  and  Odes,'  or  spiritual  songs. 
Hence  these  terms  passed  into  common  use  among 
those  who  were  familiar  with  the  Septuagint,  not  to 
describe  different  Psalters,  but  different  parts  of  the 
same  Psalter ;  and  this  is,  no  doubt,  the  sense  in  which 
the  apostle  used  these  terms  in  the  text,  for  the  Septua- 
gint was  the  version  of  the  Old  Testament  which  was 
generally  used  by  the  Christians  to  whom  he  was  writ- 
ing. As  if  he  had  said:  'Speak  to  yourselves  in  the 
various  Psalms,  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs,  which  are 
to  be  found  in  the  inspired  Book  of  Psalms.'  "  The 
Inspired  Psalmody.    By  William  J.  Reid,  p.  10. 

Such  are  the  statements.  I  have  too  great  respect 
for  the  memory  of  those  who  made  them,  the  first  of 
whom  was  a  revered  professor,  at  whose  feet  I  sat  in 
the  seminary;  the  second,  an  uncle,  and  the  third  an 
esteemed  personal  friend— to  say  that  they  are  not 
wholly  true.  But  I  must  say,  they  are  not  strictly 
accurate ;  and  hence  are  actually,  though  by  no  means 
intentionally,  misleading.  But  passing  this  let  us 
notice  the  statements  somewhat  in  detail : 

1.  At  first  it  seems  strange  that  if  the  apostle 
meant  to  confine  his  readers  to  the  Book  of  Psalms 


44  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

that  he  uses  such  circumlocution  to  express  his  mean- 
ing.   See  Luke  20 :  42 ;  Acts  13 :  33,  35. 

2.  I  can  think  of  no  principle  of  nomenclature  that 
would  lead  him  so  to  designate  the  Book  of  Psalms 
or  its  contents.  We  can  understand  why  the  contents 
of  the  Pentateuch  should  at  times  be  spoken  of  as 
laws,  statutes,  judgments,  etc.,  for  the  terms  have 
specific  meaning.  We  can  understand,  too,  why  some- 
times an  apostle  speaks  of  body,  soul  and  spirit.  But 
I  know  of  no  reason  why  the  contents  of  the  Psalter, 
even  in  the  Septuagint,  should  be  designated  as 
psalms,  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs.  These  terms  in 
no  way  comprehend  the  terms  used  in  the  titles  of 
the  Psalms  in  the  Septuagint.  There  are  some  nine 
or  ten  terms  that  are  used,  and  one  of  these— alleluia 
— occurs  far  more  frequently  than  does  htimnos. 

3.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  third  term  in  the  Septua- 
gint is  Ode,  but  in  the  texts  it  is  spiritual  ode  or  song. 
The  word  spiritual  does  not  occur  at  all  in  the  titles 
of  the  Psalms  in  the  Septuagint.  In  fact,  for  that 
matter,  if  our  concordances  are  to  be  trusted,  it  does 
not  occur  in  the  Septuagint  at  all,  nor  even  in  any 
Greek  version  of  the  Old  Testament.  Strictly  speak- 
ing, hum7ws,  or  hymn,  does  not  occur  in  the  titles.  It 
occurs  in  the  phrase  which,  in  the  Septuagint,  cor- 
responds to  our  phrase  To  the  chief  musician;  but, 
so  far  as  I  have  observed  after  careful  examination, 
it  does  not  occur  as  a  designation  of  a  Psalm.  The 
correspondence  then  between  the  terms  in  our  texts 
and  the  titles  in  the  Septuagint  is  not  so  exact  as  these 
statements  would  naturally  lead  one  to  expect. 

4.  The  word  spiritual  is  usually  interpreted  as  be- 


PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.   45 

ing  here  equivalent  to  the  word  inspired.  If  the 
apostle  referred  exclusively  to  the  Psalms,  why  use 
this  word?  It  was  not  required  by  its  use  in  the 
Septuagint,  for  it  is  not  found  there.  It  was  not  re- 
quired to  designate  the  inspiration  of  a  Psalter  song, 
for  it  already  had  a  double  certificate  of  inspiration — 
its  original  utterance  and  its  inclusion  by  inspiration 
in  an  inspired  book. 

For  these  reasons  we  must  reject  these  statements 
as  being  unsatisfactory,  and  conclude  that  whatever 
the  apostle  meant  by  these  texts  he  did  not  mean  to 
teach  the  doctrine  of  a  Davidic  Psalmody. 

2,   A  SCRIPTURE,  OR  AN  INSPIRED  PSALMODY. 

A  minority  of  our  Psalm-singing  brethren  plead 
only  for  an  inspired  Psalmody.  In  other  words,  while 
willing  to  go  for  matter  of  praise  beyond  the  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  Psalms,  they  contend  that  we  must  not 
go  beyond  the  inspired  Scriptures.  Songs  other  than 
Psalms  may  be  sung  in  formal  worship,  but  they  must 
be  inspired  songs— songs  found  within  the  canonical 
Scriptures.  Two  works  whose  writers  maintain  this 
view  are  before  me.  Here  is  the  way  they  state  their 
position : 

"Now,  this  is  the  sum  of  the  issue  here :  God's  Bible 
commands  all,  individually  and  socially,  to  praise  him. 
The  family,  the  prayer-meeting,  the  congregation  as- 
sembled, are  commanded  to  sing  praise.  And  for 
every  family  God  has  given  the  Bible  to  be  used  for 
all  purposes  for  which  he  gave  it;  to  be  read  and 
to  be  s^mg  in  the  worship  of  God  at  the  family  altar. 
So,  to  every  prayer-meeting  he  has  given  the  Bible 
to  be  used  for  the  same  purposes,  in  the  social  wor- 


46  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

ship.  And  in  like  manner  to  every  worshipping  con- 
gregation for  similar  uses.  Then,  every  family, 
prayer-meeting,  congregation,  is  furnished  by  the  head 
of  the  church  with  suitable  soiigs  to  be  sung,  with 
'authority'  to  sing  them  and  with  ample  directions 
hotv  they  must  be  sung.  .  .  ,  One  thing,  however, 
we  cannot  ignore.  We  disclaim  all  authority  and  right 
to  make  and  use  uninspired  songs  of  praise  in  the 
formal  worship  of  God.  Here  we  stand  still,  and  feel 
that  we  cannot  proceed  beyond  the  use  of  the  inspired 
songs  of  the  Bible  in  the  worship  of  God,  till  our 
brethren  show  us  the  divine  way  clearly  marked.  Here 
they  diverge  from  the  way,  or  advance  and  leave  us, 
under  the  assumed  authority  and  right  of  making, 
authorizing,  and  using  in  worship  songs  uninspired — 
songs  that  will  incorporate,  in  their  own  way  of  stat- 
ing them^  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  Bible,  so  as  to 
operate  as  a  test  of  orthodoxy,  as  far  as  in  their  judg- 
ment essentials  are  concerned."   .    .    . 

In  reference  to  the  passages  in  Ephesians  and 
Colossians  now  under  consideration  he  says: 

"1.  It  is  not  true  that  we  assert  those  churches  had 
David's  Psalms,  and  had  no  other.  2.  It  is  not  true 
that  Ave  assert  that  these  churches  certainly  under- 
stood the  apostle  as  speaking  of  the  'Book  of  Psalms 
alone.'  These  churches  had  the  whole  Old  Testament, 
and  may  have  understood  the  apostle  as  speaking  of 
all  the  Psalms  of  the  Bible,  so  far  as  then  known,  to 
compose  the  Psalmody  of  all  the  churches. ' '  Psalmody. 
By  J.  B.  Johnston,  pp.  77,  78,  82,  89,  90. 

"The  true  and  only  question  then  before  us  is, 
Have  we  any  reason  for  supposing  that  the  'hymns' 
and  'spiritual  songs'  here  mentioned  are  anything 
different  from  the  '  psalms '  ?  It  will  not  do  to  assume 
a  difference.  That  difference  must  be  proved  in  order 
to  justify  a  resort  to  these  passages  as  authorizing  the 
use  of  anything  else  than  the  Book  of  Psalms.    The 


PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    47 

reader  will  notice  here  that  the  burden  of  proof  rests 
on  those  who  take  the  position,  that  the  hymns  and 
spiritual  songs  here  mentioned  are  such  as  are  not  con- 
tained in  the  ivord  of  God.  .  .  .  Perhaps  you  will 
be  ready  to  say,  are  the  '  psalms,  and  hymns,  and 
spiritual  songs'  mentioned  by  the  apostle  only  differ- 
ent names  for  the  same  things  ?  Suppose  we  say,  yes  ? 
How  will  you  prove  that  they  are  not?  .  .  .  But  sup- 
pose we  say,  no— they  do  not  mean  the  same  thing; 
psalms  are  not  just  the  same  as  hymns,  and  hymns 
are  not  just  the  same  as  spiritual  songs.  What  then? 
Why  it  appears  that  there  is  a  difference.  But  the 
question  still  recurs,  what  is  that  difference?  Is  it 
the  difference  which  exists  between  what  is  inspired 
and  what  is  not  inspired?  Do  you  not  plainly  see 
that  unless  you  prove  such  a  difference  as  this,  you 
have  not  touched  the  question  at  issue  between  us? 
We  may  imagine  a  thousand  differences,  but  they  have 
no  relevancy  to  the  point  before  us ;  unless  they  go  to 
show  that  these  names  are  designed  to  express  what  is 
inspired  and  what  is  not  inspired.  Now,  reader,  this 
you  can  never  do.  You  may  try  it  as  long  as  you 
please,  but  you  will  fail  in  every  effort.  .  .  .  But 
have  the  friends  of  an  inspired  psalmody  nothing  to 
support  their  position,  that  the  apostle,  by  these  three 
terms,  refers  to  the  same  thing,  or  at  least  that  he 
does  not,  by  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  mean  those 
which  are  not  inspired  ?  ...  It  is  generally  supposed 
that  the  apostle  made  use  of  the  Septuagint  version 
of  the  Scriptures.  With  this  version  the  Ephesians 
and  Colossians,  being  Greeks,  were  no  doubt  familiar. 
Let  us  open  then  this  version  of  the  Psalms,  and  we 
will  find  some  of  them  bearing  the  title  of  a  psalm, 
others  of  a  hymn,  and  others  of  a  song  exactly  corre- 
sponding to  the  three  Hebrew  titles,  Mizmar,  Tehilla 
and  Shir.  These  words  in  the  Septuagint  are  the 
very  same  as  those  which  are  employed  by  the  apostle 
when  he  directs  the  Ephesians  and  Colossians  to  'sing 


48  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

psalms,  hymns  and  spiritual  songs.'  Will  the  reader 
then  look  at  this,  and  ask  himself  whether  the  proba- 
bilities in  favor  of  our  interpretation  of  this  passage 
are  not  such  as  almost  to  amount  to  a  moral  certainty. 
.  .  .  These  songs  are  called  'spiritual  songs.'  The 
heathen  made  use  of  odes.  In  order  to  distinguish 
those  which  the  apostle  would  have  them  to  use,  he 
calls  them  'spiritual.'  Now  we  apprehend  that  there 
is,  in  the  use  of  this  term,  a  proof  that  the  songs  re- 
ferred to  by  the  apostle  were  those  contained  in  the 
Scriptures.  .  .  .  Another  reason  for  this  interpreta- 
tion is  that  the  apostle  directs  to  the  use  of  these 
'psalms,  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,'  as  the  means  of 
being  'filled  Avith  the  Spirit.'  Now  is  not  the  word 
of  God,  the  very  word  of  God,  the  means  which  he 
makes  use  of  in  filling  the  hearts  of  his  people?  .  .  . 
"We  find  that  the  apostle  directs  to  the  singing  of 
psalms,  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  as  the  means  of 
letting  'the  Word  of  Christ  dwell  in  them  richly  in 
all  wisdom.'  Guyse  has  a  sermon  on  this  text,  en- 
titled 'The  Scriptures  the  Word  of  Christ'  ...  In 
it  he  '  infers  that  the  word  of  Christ  .  .  .  includes  not 
only  the  New,  but  also  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures, ' 
He  remarks,  '  It  is  in  this  most  extensive  view  that  our 
apostle  seems  to  take  it,  by  his  speaking,  in  the  re- 
mainder of  the  verse,  of  teaching  and  admonishing 
one  another  in  psalms,  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs, 
which  look  with  a  very  strong  aspect  toward  the  Old 
Testament  writings,  some  of  which  are  set  forth  under 
these  titles.'  Add  to  this  the  consideration  that  but 
a  part  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  was  written 
at  this  time,  so  that  we  may  readily  suppose  that  the 
reference  of  the  apostle  is  to  the  psalms,  hymns  and 
spiritual  songs'  of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  At 
all  events  they  must  be  such  as  belonged  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, and  this  is  all  for  which  we  are  now  contend- 
ing." Dr.  Joseph  T.  Cooper  in  The  True  Psalmody, 
pp.  75,  76,  77,  78,  79,  87,  89,  91,  92,  93. 


PSALMODY  m  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    49 

Before  noticing  these  statements  controversially  two 
or  three  general  observations  may  properly  be  made. 

1.  The  quotations  from  Dr.  Johnston  reveal  his 
position,  but  hardly  his  argument.  This  is  theological 
rather  than  exegetical,  and  is  diffused  through  the 
whole  doctrinal  part  of  his  book.  It  is  nowhere  crys- 
tallized into  a  comprehensive  and  concise  statement. 
I  have  not  been  able  to  find  a  paragraph  the  quotation 
of  which  would  clearly  and  fairly  present  his  argu- 
ment. His  general  thought  is  that  all  acceptable  wor- 
ship is  inspired,  and  conversely  that  only  inspired 
worship  is  acceptable.  He  takes  up  preaching, 
prayer  and  praise,  and  treats  at  length  of  their  re- 
semblances and  differences.  In  preaching  we  have 
an  inspired  text  and  an  uninspired  sermon,  though 
delivered  by  a  duly  commissioned  preacher.  In 
prayer  we  have  inspired  desires  for  which  the  wor- 
shipper is  to  find  suitable  words.  In  praise  we  have 
inspired  words  to  which  the  worshipper  is  to  bring 
correspondent  feelings  and  affections.  A  brief  quota- 
tion respecting  the  two  latter  will  reveal  alike  his 
method  and  his  thought.  ' '  The  Holy  Spirit  in  prayer 
indites  the  thoughts  sent  from  the  heart  in  words. 
These  words  must  be  subordinated  to  the  inward  in- 
spiration of  desires.  The  same  spirit  in  praise  indites 
the  words  of  the  song,  which  command  corresponding 
thoughts  within,  formed  by  the  images  of  the  thougths 
of  the  Spirit  in  the  inspired  words.  Images  or  ideas 
in  the  heart  must  here  correspond  to  their  forms  in 
the  Book.  Instead,  therefore,  of  making  our  own 
prayers  and  our  own  praises  as  well,  we  neither  can 
nor  may  make  either."    Psalmody,  pp.  39,  40. 


50  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

The  quotations  from  Dr.  Cooper  reveal  clearly  and 
quite  fully  both  his  position  and  his  argument.  His 
position  is  seen  to  be  a  shifting  one.  It  is  now  for  a 
Davidic  and  next  moment  for  an  inspired  Psalmody. 
He  really  strives  to  put  the  matter  in  the  form  of 
a  dilemma,  and  compel  us  to  choose  one  or  other  of  its 
horns.  But  as  he  says,  at  the  close,  that  all  that  he 
is  contending  for  is  the  exclusive  use  of  inspired  songs, 
I  place  him  with  Dr.  Johnston,  who  is  an  open  and 
avowed  advocate  of  that  position. 

Avoiding  alike  repetition  of  what  has  been  said 
above  and  anticipation  of  what  may  more  properly 
be  said  below  I  remark: 

1.  It  seems  like  a  disregard  of  Christ's  teaching 
about  putting  new  wine  into  old  wine-skins  to  limit 
these  words,  as  these  brethren  practically  do  to  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures.  Look  at  the  matter  a  mo- 
ment. According  to  the  generally  accepted  dates  of 
the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  not  one  of  the  Gospels 
was  written  at  this  time,  and  of  the  Epistles  only 
those  to  the  Thessalonians,  Corinthians,  Romans  and 
possibly  that  of  James.  Apostles  and  Evangelists 
were  going  up  and  down  the  country  teaching  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  the  Christ,  telling  what  he 
taught  and  what  he  enjoined.  Now  the  apostle  urges 
these  Christians  to  let  the  word  of  this  Christ  dwell 
in  them  richly;  and  yet  in  doing  so  in  their  singing 
they  must  confine  themselves  to  songs  written  cen- 
turies before.  This  was  not  usual  under  the  Old 
Testament  dispensation.  It  does  not  seem  reasonable 
under  the  New. 

2.  A  full  reply  with  regard  to  the  word  spiritual 


PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    51 

must  be  postponed  till  we  take  up  the  next  point.  It 
is  enough  to  say  that  it  never  means  inspired  in  the 
accepted  theological  signification  of  the  term.  For 
these  reasons,  then,  as  well  as  for  further  and  fuller 
ones  yet  to  be  given,  this  position  must  be  regarded 
as  untenable. 

3.  A  SCRIPTURAL,  OR  EVANGELICAL,  PSALMODY. 

Before  entering  upon  the  consideration  of  this 
theory  of  Psalmody  let  it  be  noted  that  it  is  not  a  sys- 
tem separate  and  distinct  from  those  already  ex- 
amined. It  embraces  them  both.  The  real  distinction 
between  these  different  systems  of  Psalmody  is  found 
in  their  exclusiveness,  or  comprehensiveness.  The 
Davidic  system  excludes  both  the  others.  The  Scrip- 
ture, or  Inspired,  system  includes  the  Davidic,  but  ex- 
cludes the  Scriptural,  or  Evangelical,  system.  The 
Scriptural,  or  Evangelical,  system  excludes  neither  of 
the  others,  but  comprehends  them  both.  For  this 
reason  in  the  maintenance  of  this  system  against  the 
opposition  of  the  others  neither  glorification  nor  dis- 
paragement of  the  Psalms  or  other  lyrical  portions  of 
the  Scriptures  is  logically  legitimate.  As  a  part  of  the 
argumentation  both  are  utterly  irrevelant.  It  is  true 
that,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  real  versions  of  the  Davidic 
Psalms  are  largely  absent  from  current  hymnody. 
But  there  is  large  and  increasing  use  of  the  Psalms 
and  other  lyrical  portions  in  responsive  readings,  and 
in  chants  and  anthems.  But,  after  all,  be  the  practice 
what  it  may  in  principle,  the  Scriptural  hymnology 
is  comprehensive  of  both  the  other  systems. 


52  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

With  these  general  observations  let  us  now  pass  to 
a  careful  consideration  of  the  two  passages  before  us. 
Of  the  two  texts  the  one  in  Colossians  is  the  more 
comprehensive.     But  both  will  be  considered, 

1.  The  first  exhortation  is:  "Let  the  word  of  Christ 
dwell  in  you  richly."  AVTiat  is  the  word  of  Christ? 
Or,  rather,  what  would  the  Colossians  understand 
Paul  to  mean  by  the  expression  ?  There  are  two  pas- 
sages in  the  New  Testament  which  seem  to  give  a  very 
clear  and  definite  answer.  In  his  address  to  Cornelius 
and  his  friends  at  Caesarea,  Peter  says:  "Of  a  truth 
I  perceive  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons,  but  in 
every  nation  he  that  feareth  him  and  worketh 
righteousness  is  acceptable  to  him.  The  word  which 
he  sent  unto  the  children  of  Israel,  preaching  good  tid- 
ings of  peace  by  Jesus  Christ  (he  is  Lord  of  all), 
that  saying  ye  yourselves  know,  which  was  published 
throughout  all  Judsea,  beginning  from  Galilee,  after 
the  baptism  which  John  preached ;  even  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  how  God  anointed  him  with  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  with  power,  who  went  about  doing  good, 
and  healing  all  that  were  oppressed  of  the  devil,  for 
God  was  with  him.  And  we  are  witnesses  of  all  things 
which  he  did  both  in  the  country  of  the  Jews  and  in 
Jerusalem,  whom  also  they  slew,  hanging  him  on  a 
tree.  Him  God  raised  up  the  third  day,  and  gave  him 
to  be  made  manifest,  not  to  all  the  people,  but  unto 
witnesses  that  were  chosen  before  of  God,  even  to  us, 
who  ate  and  drank  with  him  after  he  rose  from  the 
dead.  And  he  charged  us  to  preach  unto  the  people, 
and  to  testify  that  this  is  he  who  is  ordained  of  God 
to  be  the  Judge  of  the  living  and  the  dead.    To  him 


PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    53 

bear  all  the  prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name 
every  one  that  believeth  on  him  shall  receive  remission 
of  sins."  Acts  10:34-43.  In  the  First  Epistle  of 
Peter  there  is  a  passage  too  long  to  be  quoted  here, 
which,  considered  as  a  summary  of  the  Gospel  message, 
is  in  its  broad  outlines  similar  to  this  passage;  and 
it  closes  with  these  words :  ' '  And  this  is  the  word  of 
good  tidings  which  was  preached  unto  you."  1  Pet. 
1 :  12-25.  In  a  word,  the  word  of  Christ  here  is  the 
Gospel  story  respecting  Christ. 

2.  They  were  exhorted  to  let  this  word  dwell  in  them 
richly,  in  order  to  fit  them  for  the  discharge  of  a  duty, 
or  the  rendering  of  a  service,  which  is  immediately 
indicated.  It  is  "teaching  and  admonishing  one  an- 
other." It  is  noticeable  here  that  it  is  not  praising, 
but  teaching  to  which  they  are  exhorted.  It  is  not 
the  glorifying  of  God,  but  the  edifying  of  one  another 
to  which  they  are  called.  And  yet,  according  to  our 
brethren,  this  is  not  the  function  of  the  ordinance  of 
praise.    With  regard  to  this  Dr.  Pressly  says : 

* '  In  prayer,  we  come  to  God  to  ask  for  those  things 
which  we  need;  but  in  praise,  we  ascribe  to  him  the 
glory  which  is  due  unto  his  name.  As  our  situation 
and  circumstances  are  ever  varying,  our  wants  are 
very  different  at  one  time  from  what  they  are  at  an- 
other. Our  petitions  must  consequently  be  framed 
in  accordance  with  our  Avants.  But  God  is  unchange- 
able, and  his  praise  is  always  the  same.  ...  And  what 
ascriptions  of  glory  are  due  to  him,  the  Spirit  of  God 
has  declared  in  those  psalms,  and  hymns  and  songs 
which  are  the  productions  of  his  infinite  wisdom." 
Dr.  Pressly  on  Psalmody,  pp.  120,  121.  Quoted  with 
endorsement  in  The  True  Psalmody,  pp.  126,  127, 


54  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

But  even  the  Psalms  themselves  do  not  bear  out  this 
conception  of  the  function  of  the  ordinance  of  praise. 
In  his  comment  on  the  title  of  Psalm  14  Spurgeon 
says: 

* '  Several  of  these  Psalms  have  little  or  no  praise  in 
them,  and  were  not  addressed  directly  to  the  Most 
High,  and  yet  were  to  be  sung  in  public  worship, 
which  is  a  clear  indication  that  the  theory  of  Au- 
gustine lately  revived  by  certain  hymn-book  makers, 
that  nothing  but  praise  should  be  sung,  is  far  more 
plausible  than  scriptural.  Not  only  did  the  ancient 
church  chant  hallowed  doctrine  and  offer  prayer  amid 
her  spiritual  songs,  but  even  the  wailing  notes  of 
complaint  were  put  into  her  mouth  by  the  sweet  singer 
of  Israel,  Avho  was  inspired  of  God.  Some  persons 
grasp  at  any  nicety  which  has  a  gloss  of  apparent  cor- 
rectness upon  it,  and  are  pleased  with  being  more 
fancifully  precise  than  others;  nevertheless,  it  will 
ever  be  the  way  of  plain  men,  not  only  to  magnify  the 
Lord  in  sacred  canticles,  but,  also,  according  to  Paul 's 
precept,  to  teach  and  admonish  one  another  in  Psalms 
and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  singing  with  grace 
in  their  hearts  unto  the  Lord."  Treasury  of  David, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  179.  Spurgeon  makes  a  very  similar  com- 
ment in  his  introduction  to  the  82d  Psalm. 

Psalmody  then  is  to  be  used  as  a  means  of  instruct- 
ing and  admonishing  men  as  well  as  of  praising  God. 
If  so  its  character  is  to  be  judged  by  its  fitness  for 
serving  such  a  purpose  as  well  as  for  that  of  glorifying 
God. 

3.  The  apostle  indicates  the  instrumentality  by 
which  the  service  is  to  be  rendered.  It  is  by  the  use  of 
psalms,  hymns  and  spiritual  songs.  Now  to  what 
would  these  Colossians  and  Ephesians  suppose  the 
apostle  to  have  reference? 


PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    55 

(a)  That  his  words  included  the  Psalms  of  David 
none  dispute.  It  was  a  collection  of  songs  which 
would  necessarily  soon  come  to  the  knowledge  of  even 
those  who  came  out  of  heathenism  to  Christ.  And  the 
frequent  references  to  it  in  the  apostolic  teaching,  as 
revealed  in  the  New  Testament,  indicate  that  it  would 
be  utilized  in  the  inculcation  of  Christian  truth, 

( h )  But  the  real  question  is,  would  they  understand 
him  as  restricting  them  to  the  Psalms  of  David  in  their 
religious  singing?  This  question  has  already  been 
answered  in  the  negative.  But  let  us  present  the 
whole  matter  more  fully. 

1.  If  there  were  any  principle  by  the  application 
of  which  the  Book  of  Psalms  could  be  intelligently  so 
designated  it  might  be  supposed  that  it  is  indicated 
by  these  terms.  We  can  understand  the  apostle  when 
he  speaks  of  body,  soul  and  spirit,  for  there  is  a  tri- 
partite theory  of  the  constitution  of  man.  But  there  is 
no  principle,  so  far  as  I  can  see,  for  a  designation  of 
the  Psalter  by  these  three  terms. 

2.  The  introduction  of  the  word  "spiritual"  ab- 
solutely precludes  the  limitation  of  these  terms  to  the 
songs  of  the  Psalter :  (a)  Because  the  word  nowhere  oc- 
curs in  the  titles  of  the  Psalms  as  found  in  the  Septua- 
gint.  The  word  does  not  even  occur  anywhere  in  the 
Septuagint.  (&)  If  the  "song"  was  one  of  the  Psalms 
it  was  inspired,  and  did  not  need  the  descriptive  word. 

(c)  Did  the  apostle  mean  to  limit  the  songs  to  those 
of  the  inspired  Scriptures? 

1.  Why  then  use  three  terms  when  two  would  have 
served  better?  There  is  a  dual  conception  of  human 
nature,  and  there  are  words  that  intelligibly  express 


56  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

that  conception,  and,  when  used,  always  imply  it. 
They  are  soul  and  body,  or  body  and  spirit.  The  use 
of  three  terms  presumptively — I  do  not  say  con- 
clusively—indicates a  threefold  character  of  some  kind 
in  Christian  Psalmody. 

2.  Why  then  describe  the  songs  as  "spiritual"? 
Does  spiritual  mean  ' '  inspired, ' '  as  that  term  is  under- 
stood in  theological  parlance?  Let  us  recall  some 
uses  of  the  word  by  this  same  apostle.  "If  the  Gen- 
tiles have  been  made  partakers  of  their  spiritual 
things,  they  owe  it  to  them  also  to  minister  unto  them 
in  carnal  things."  Rom.  15:27.  "And  I,  brethren, 
could  not  speak  unto  you  as  unto  spiritual,  but  as 
unto  carnal."  1  Cor.  3  : 1.  "Brethren,  even  if  a  man 
be  overtaken  in  any  trespass,  ye  who  are  spiritual,  re- 
store such  a  one."  Gal.  6:1.  In  Eph.  6:12,  the 
very  next  chapter  to  that  in  which  one  of  our  texts 
is  found,  he  speaks  of  "the  spiritual  hosts  of  wicked- 
ness." No,  brethren,  "spiritual  songs"  do  not  des- 
ignate "inspired  songs,"  as  that  word  is  used  in  the- 
ological teaching. 

3.  Besides,  if  "spiritual"  means  "inspired,"  then 
by  parity  of  reasoning  to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit  is 
to  be  possessed  of  the  gift  of  inspiration.  Spiritual 
men  become  inspired  men,  for  surely  Spirit- filled  men 
are  spiritual  men.  No,  the  thought  is:  instead  of 
revelling  in  old  pleasures,  inflamed  by  wine,  yield  to 
the  Spirit  and  seek  mutual  edification  in  songs  that  de- 
velop and  strengthen  the  virtues  graciously  implanted 
in  your  hearts  by  the  Spirit. 

(d)  A  natural  and  simple  explanation  of  the  lan- 
guage of  the  apostle  is  furnished  by  the  actual  wor- 


PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    57 

ship  of  the- Jews,  as  historically  rendered,  in  the  days 
of  our  Saviour.  We  have  already  seen  that  regularly 
on  each  weekly  Sabbath,  morning  and  evening,  the 
Jews,  in  our  Lord's  day,  went  beyond  the  Psalter  in 
their  songs  of  praise.  Dr.  Edersheim  informs  us  that 
in  connection  with  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  they  went 
still  farther,  and  that  then  devotional  compositions 
of  uninspired  men  were  sung. 

'*At  the  close  of  the  first  day  of  the  feast  the  wor- 
shippers descended  to  the  Court  of  the  Women,  where 
great  preparations  had  been  made.  Four  golden  can- 
delabras  were  there,  each  with  four  golden  bowls,  and 
against  them  rested  four  ladders ;  and  four  youths  of 
priestly  descent  held  each  a  pitcher  of  oil,  capable  of 
holding  one  hundred  and  twenty  log,  from  which  they 
filled  each  bowl.  The  old,  worn  breeches  and  girdles 
of  the  priests  served  for  wicks  to  these  lamps.  There 
was  not  a  court  in  Jerusalem  that  was  not  lit  up  by 
the  light  of  '  the  house  of  water-pouring. '  The  '  Chas- 
sidim'  and  'the  Men  of  Deed'  danced  before  the  people 
with  flaming  torches  in  their  hands,  and  sang  before 
them  hymns  and  songs  of  praise ;  and  the  Levites,  with 
harps,  and  lutes,  and  cymbals,  and  trumpets,  and  in- 
struments of  music  without  number,  stood  upon  the 
fifteen  steps  which  led  down  from  the  Court  of  Israel 
to  that  of  the  Women,  according  to  the  number  of  the 
fifteen  Songs  of  Degrees  in  the  Book  of  Psalms.  They 
stood  with  their  instruments  of  music,  and  sang 
hymns.  ...  A  fragment  of  one  of  the  hymns  sung 
that  night  has  been  preserved.  It  was  sung  by  the 
'Chassidim'  and  'Men  of  Deed,'  and  by  those  who  did 
penance  in  their  old  age  for  the  sins  of  their  youth : 

The  Chassidim  and  Men  of  Deed. 

'Oh  joy,  that  our  youth,  devoted,  sage, 
Doth  bring  no  shame  upon  our  old  age !  * 


58  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

The  Penitents. 

*0h,  joy,  we  can  in  our  old  age 
Repair  the  sins  of  youth  not  sage!' 

Both  in  Unison. 

*Yes,  happy  he  on  whom  no  early  guilt  doth  rest, 
And  he  who,   having  sinned,   is  now  with  pardon 

blest.'  " 
The  Temple,  Its  Ministry  and  Services.    Edersheim, 
pp.  246,  247.1 

It  is  not  without  significance  that  it  was  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  rather  than  any 
other  that  this  extension  of  Psalmody  took  place.  We 
have  already  seen  that  our  Lord  made  use  of  two  post- 
Mosaic  features  of  that  feast  to  illustrate  his  own  re- 
lation to,  and  work  in  and  in  behalf  of,  the  world. 
He  is  the  water  of  life  to  assuage  the  world 's  thirsting. 
He  is  the  light  of  life  to  dispel  the  world's  darkness. 

'In  making  this  quotation  it  may  not  be  out  of  place  to 
relate  a  personal  incident.  Some  twenty-five  years  ago,  when 
preparing  a  pamphlet  on  Instrumental  Music  in  the  Worship 
of  God,  I  went  to  Rochester  to  visit  the  library  of  the  uni- 
versity in  that  city.  Calling  upon  the  Rev.  Dr.  Howard 
Osgood,  Professor  of  Old  Testament  Literature  in  the  institu- 
tion and  one  of  the  American  Old  Testament  Revisers,  the 
librarian,  I  was  cordially  received  and  taken  by  him  to  his 
own  library.  He  entered  heartily  into  my  plans,  and  loaned 
me  two  books.  Of  these  one  was  this  work  of  Edersheim.  As 
we  conversed  together  I  glanced  through  the  book  and  noticed 
interrogation  marks  pencilled  here  and  there  upon  the  mar- 
gins. Seeing  this,  he  said:  "You  need  pay  no  attention  to 
those  marks.  You  can  rely  upon  every,  statement  you  find  in 
that  book." 

Moll,  on  the  authority  of  Zunz,  gives  testimony  to  Jewish 
customs  very  similar  to  this  of  Edersheim: 


PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    59 

And  in  thus  appropriating  and  interpreting  these 
features  of  this  feast  he  was  only  carrying  out  the 
conception  which  the  Jews  themselves  cherished  re- 
specting the  essential  character  of  this  festival. 

"Indeed,  the  whole  symbolism  of  the  Feast,  begin- 
ning with  the  completed  harvest,  for  which  it  was  a 
thanksgiving,  pointed  to  the  future.  The  Rabbis  them- 
selves admitted  this.  The  strange  number  of  sacrificial 
bullocks— seventy  in  all— they  regarded  as  referring 
to  'the  seventy  nations'  of  heathendom.  The  cere- 
mony of  the  outpouring  of  water,  which  was  consid- 
ered of  such  vital  importance  as  to  give  to  the  whole 
festival  tEe  name  of  '  House  of  Outpouring, '  was  sym- 
bolical of  the  outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  As  the 
brief  night  of  the  great  Temple  illumination  closed, 
there   was   solemn   testimony   made   before   Jehovah 

"After  the  destruction  of  the  temple,  prayer  came  to  occupy 
more  and  more  the  place  of  sacrifice,  and  the  synagogue  service 
became  the  vital  centre  of  Jewish  life,  'the  only  bearer  and 
banner  of  their  nationality,  in  the  ruin  of  all  their  other  in- 
stitutions' (Zunz).  Its  two  parts  consisted  in  the  reading  of 
the  Scriptures  and  singing  of  Psalms  and  other  psalm-like 
passages.  The  reading  was  conducted  by  the  teachers,  and 
those  versed  in  the  Scriptures,  the  'wise  men,'  and  it  was  con- 
nected with  expositions.  The  singing  was  conducted  by  the 
leaders  in  prayer,  'the  representatives  of  the  assembly,'  who 
delivered  in  a  singing  style  Psalms  or  songs  of  a  psalm-like 
character  which  were  introduced  gradually  and  grew  out  of 
free  renderings  of  passages  from  the  Psalms  and  other  biblical 
sentences.  .  .  .  There  was,  however,  for  centuries,  no  fixed 
arrangement  of  prayers,  and  no  prayer-book  to  which  the 
leaders  in  prayer  were  restricted.  They  exercised,  in  fact,  the 
greatest  freedom  in  the  choice  of  Psalms  and  hymns  for  divine 
service,  and  in  the  manner  of  their  delivery,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  appeared  themselves  in  the  character  of  poets  or 
singers,  with  original  productions."  Lange's  Commentary, 
Psalms,  Introduction,  Sec.  5,  p.  14. 


60  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

against  heathenism.  It  must  have  been  a  stirring 
scene,  when  from  out  of  the  mass  of  Levites,  with 
their  musical  instruments,  who  crowded  the  fifteen 
steps  that  led  from  the  Court  of  Israel  to  that  of  the 
"Women,  stepped  two  priests  with  their  silver  trumpets. 
As  the  first  cock-crowing  intimated  the  dawn  of  morn, 
they  blew  a  threefold  blast ;  another  on  the  tenth  step, 
and  yet  another  threefold  blast  as  they  entered  the 
Court  of  the  Women.  And  still  sounding  their  trum- 
pets, they  marched  through  the  Court  of  the  Women  to 
the  Beautiful  Gate.  Here,  turning  round  and  facing 
westward  to  the  Holy  Place,  they  repeated:  'Our 
fathers,  who  were  in  this  place,  they  turned  their 
backs  on  the  sanctuary  of  Jehovah,  and  their  faces 
eastward,  for  they  worshipped  eastward  the  sun ;  but 
we,  our  eyes  are  toward  Jehovah. '  '  We  are  Jehovah 's 
—our  eyes  are  toward  Jehovah.'  Nay,  the  whole  of 
this  night-and-morning  scene  was  symbolical :  the 
Temple  illumination,  of  the  light  which  was  to  shine 
from  out  the  Temple  into  the  dark  night  of  heathen- 
dom ;  then,  at  the  first  dawn  of  morn  the  blast  of  the 
priests'  silver  trumpets,  of  the  army  of  God,  as  it  ad- 
vanced, with  festive  trumpet-sound  and  call,  to 
awaken  the  sleepers,  marching  on  to  quite  the  utmost 
bounds  of  the  sanctuary,  to  the  Beautiful  Gate,  which 
opened  upon  the  Court  of  the  Gentiles— and,  then 
again,  facing  round  to  utter  solemn  protest  against 
heathenism,  and  make  solemn  confession  of  Jehovah. ' ' 
The  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus,  the  Messiah.  Eder- 
sheim.  Vol.  2,  pp.  149,  150. 

It  was  thoroughly  fitting  that  in  connection  with 
such  a  feast,  charged  Avith  such  symbolical  signifi- 
cance, the  songs  sung  should  go  beyond  those  of  the 
Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  anticipate  those  which,  in  the 
time  to  come,  should  ascend  from  Gentile  lips  when 
they  too  should  join  in  the  praises  of  Jehovah. 


PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    61 

And  indication  is  not  altogether  wanting  that  so 
the  Ephesian  Christians  understood  and  obeyed  the 
apostle.  In  his  First  Epistle  to  Timothy,  the  Apostle 
Paul  seems  to  quote  from  one  such  song.  At  least 
such  is  the  conviction  of  many  scholars.  Winer  only 
gives  expression  to  a  general  belief  when  he  says : 
"Likewise  1  Tim.  3  :  16  .  .  .  appears  to  be  a  quotation 
from  one  of  the  hymns  of  the  apostolic  church." 
Winer's  New  Testament  Grammar,  Sec.  68,  par.  3,  page 
639.  Also  p.  588,  7th  Edition.  And  what  gives  this 
citation  pertinence  in  this  connection  is  the  fact  that 
Timothy,  at  the  time  that  this  epistle  was  addressed 
to  him,  was  in  charge  of  the  church  at  Ephesus.  Nor 
were  such  songs  confined  to  the  Christians  of  Ephesus 
and  Colosse.  They  were  in  use  in  other  provinces.  At 
least  some  forty  years  later  Pliny  bears  testimony 
that  such  songs  were  sung  by  the  Christians  of 
Bithynia.  Respecting  his  testimony  I  quote  from 
Dr.  Pressly : 

"The  first  particular  reference  to  the  usages  con- 
nected with  the  worship  of  the  primitive  Christians, 
to  which  I  shall  call  the  attention  of  the  reader,  oc- 
curs in  the  famous  letter  addressed  by  the  younger 
Pliny  to  the  Emperor  Trajan.  The  letter  was  written 
during  the  persecution  under  Trajan,  probably  in  the 
year  107.  Those  who  have  not  access  to  the  Epistles 
of  Pliny  may  see  the  original,  with  the  translation,  in 
Lardner's  Credibility,  Vol.  7."  (The  original,  though 
not  the  translation,  will  be  found  also  in  Gieseler's 
Ecclesiastical  History,  Vol.  1,  p.  103.)  "The  passage 
in  this  Epistle  with  which  we  are  concerned  is  the 
following.  In  giving  an  account  to  his  royal  master 
of  the  usages  of  the  Christians,  Pliny  observes  that 
after  making  inquiry  he  learned  that  '  they  were  wont 


62  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

to  meet,  together  on  a  stated  day,  before  it  was  light, 
and  sing  among  themselves  alternately  a  hymn  to 
Christ  as  a  God,  and  bind  themselves  by  an  oath,  not  to 
the  commission  of  any  wickedness,  but  not  to  be  guilty 
of  theft  or  robbery  or  adultery ;  never  to  falsify  their 
word,  nor  to  deny  a  pledge  committed  to  them  when 
called  upon  to  return  it.  When  these  things  were  per- 
formed, it  was  their  custom  to  separate,  and  then  to 
come  together  again  to  a  meal  which  they  ate  in  com- 
mon without  any  disorder.' 

"On  this  extract  I  would  offer  the  following  re- 
marks : 

"1.  The  account  which  Pliny  here  gives  of  the  wor- 
ship of  the  Christians  is  founded  upon  information 
which  he  had  derived  from  such  as  had  renounced 
Christianity.  It  is  not  intimated  that  the  express  lan- 
guage employed  by  the  Christians  is  here  given.  But 
Pliny  states  in  his  own  language  the  information 
which  he  had  obtained.  Their  fault  consisted  not  in 
any  immorality  with  which  they  were  chargeable,  but 
simply  in  conforming  to  the  rites  and  obligations  of 
a  religion  which  was  opposed  to  all  idolatry. 

"2.  It  was  the  custom  of  these  Christians  to  as- 
semble statedly  on  a  particular  day  for  religious  wor- 
ship. The  first  day  of  the  week,  or  the  Christian  Sab- 
bath, is  evidently  referred  to.  And  owing  to  the 
difficulties  of  the  times,  they  were  accustomed  to  meet 
before  daylight,  that  they  might  escape  the  fury  of 
their  persecutors. 

"3.  When  these  Christians  assembled  for  worship, 
it  was  their  custom  to  sing  a  hymn  to  Christ  as  a  God. 
The  original  Latin  is,  'carmen,  Christo,  quasi  Deo, 
dicer e. '  "  (The  matter  is  immaterial  here;  but,  as 
given  by  Gieseler,  the  Latin  is,  '  carmenqiie  Christo, 
quasi  Deo,  dicere  secum  invicem.')  "It  has  been  a 
matter  of  doubt  with  some  critics  whether  it  is  praise 
or  prayer  to  which  this  expression  relates.  This 
doubt   has   its   origin   in   the   fact   that   the   Latin 


PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    63 

word  carmen  may  signify  a  prayer  as  well  as  a 
song ;  and  this  doubt  is  strengthened  by  the  considera- 
tion that  Justin  Martyr  ...  in  his  account  of  the 
worship  of  the  primitive  Christians  makes  particular 
mention  of  prayer,  but  is  silent  in  relation  to  songs  of 
praise.  However,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the 
M'^ord  should  be  taken  in  its  more  common  acceptation, 
and  conclude  that  it  is  to  be  understood  as  having  ref- 
erence to  the  singing  of  praise.  I  am  the  more  dis- 
posed to  come  to  this  conclusion  since  I  find  that  both 
Tertullian  in  his  Apology,  and  Eusebius  in  his  History, 
lib.  3,  cap.  33,  who  quote  this  Epistle  of  Pliny,  under- 
stand the  words  in  question  as  having  reference  to 
praise.  According  to  this  view,  then,  the  Christians 
in  ancient  Bithynia,  about  the  beginning  of  the  second 
century,  were  accustomed  in  their  religious  assemblies 
to  sing  a  hymn  to  Christ  as  a  God."  Dr.  Pressly  on 
Psalmody,  pp.  157-159. 

We  conclude,  then,  that  when  the  apostle  exhorts 
the  Christians  at  Ephesus  and  Colosse  to  let  the  word 
of  Christ  dwell  in  them  richly,  and  to  admonish  one 
another  in  psalms,  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  he 
meant  that  they  should  make  song  do  service  in  the 
cause  of  Christ— that  it  should  be  so  used  as  to  in- 
crease the  knowledge  of  his  life  and  character  and 
deeper  consecration  to  his  service.  They  were  to  use 
whatever  songs  M^ould  contribute  to  this  end— Psalms 
from  the  Psalter,  hymns  from  the  Scriptures,  or 
spiritual  songs  originating  in  their  own  day.  To  this 
our  brethren  object: 

"Is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that  there  M'ould  be 
found  in  the  very  infancy  of  the  New  Testament 
church  a  sufficient  number  of  such  men  qualified  to 
supply  the  church  with  these  hymns  and  spiritual 
odes  ?    Take  these  Ephesians,  for  instance.    We  know 


64  TRE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

what  they  were  before  converted  to  Christianity.  They 
were  sunk  in  all  the  ignorance  and  pollution  of 
idolatry,  having  been  from  their  childhood  worship- 
pers of  the  '  great  goddess  Diana. '  Without  at  all  pre- 
suming to  call  in  question  the  existence  among  them 
of  men  of  education,  genius  and  piety,  we  think  it  is 
by  no  means  an  unreasonable  supposition  that  it 
would  not  have  been  safe  to  commit  to  men  just  con- 
verted from  their  idolatrous  worship,  and  conse- 
quently but  partially  enlightened  and  established  in 
the  truth,  the  making  'of  hymns  and  spiritual  songs* 
in  which  to  celebrate  the  praises  of  Jehovah.  To  our 
mind  it  would  seem  to  be  a  dangerous  experiment." 
Dr.  Cooper  in  True  Psalmody,  pp.  82,  83. 

But  to  this  we  reply :  1.  It  is  not  claimed  that  these 
early  Christians  Avere  charged  wdth  the  task  of  pro- 
viding a  hymn  book  for  permanent  use  by  the  church. 
They  were  only  urged  to  have  their  musical  faculties 
stirred  by  the  Spirit  of  God  rather  than  the  "spirit 
of  wine,"  and  to  devote  these  gifts  to  the  edification 
of  their  brethren  rather  than  to  the  fostering  of 
Bacchanalian  revels. 

2.  No  one  who  has  ever  heard  the  Plantation  Melo- 
dies sung  by  the  Negroes  in  our  own  Southland  before 
the  war  can  question  the  ability  of  these  Christians  to 
render  the  service  to  which  they  are  here  exhorted. 

Such  we  believe  to  be  the  real  purport  of  these  ex- 
hortations of  the  apostle  to  the  Christians  of  Ephesus 
and  Colosse.  They  were  not  to  be  drunk  with  wine, 
but  filled  with  the  Spirit.  They  were  to  let  the  word 
of  Christ  dwell  in  them  richly.  And  being  thus  moved 
and  furnished  they  were  in  all  wisdom  to  use  their 
psalmody  for  their  mutual  edification.  And  this 
psalmody  was  to  be  composed,  or  rather,  as  a  matter 


PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    65 

of  fact,  consisted  of  three  elements— Psalms,  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs.  It  is  possible  on  etymological  and 
poetical  grounds  to  differentiate  these  terms.  But  no 
attempt  will  be  made  here  to  do  so,  and  no  argument 
will  be  based  upon  such  discrimination.  It  is  enough 
to  know  that  historically,  in  the  days  of  our  Saviour 
and  his  apostles,  the  praise  songs  of  the  Temple  were 
actually  composed  of  three  kinds  of  songs— Psalms  of 
the  Psalter,  hymns  of  the  Scriptures,  and  songs  of 
men  of  the  day.  With  this  fact  these  Christians  were 
familiar,  and  they  would  understand  that  their  ser- 
vices of  song  were  to  be  characterized  by  the  same 
comprehensiveness.  And  when  we  come  to  put  to- 
gether the  hints  and  fragments  we  have  we  are  irre- 
sistibly drawn  to  the  conclusion  that  these  Christians 
obeyed  the  exhortation  of  the  apostle  as  thus  under- 
stood. Look  at  it.  "Let  the  word  of  Christ  dwell  in 
you  richly."  Col.  3:16.  "The  word  which  he  sent 
unto  the  children  of  Israel,  preaching  good  tidings  of 
peace  by  Jesus  Christ  (he  is  Lord  of  all)  —that  saying 
ye  yourselves  know,  which  was  published  throughout 
all  Judaea,  beginning  from  Galilee,  after  the  baptism 
which  John  preached;  even  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  how 
God  anointed  him  with  the  Holy  Spirit  and  with 
power;  who  went  about  doing  good,  and  healing  all 
that  were  oppressed  of  the  devil ;  for  God  was  with 
him."    Acts  10:36-38. 

"He  who  was  manifested  in  the  flesh, 

Justified  in  the  spirit, 

Seen  of  angels, 

Preached  among  the  nations, 

Believed  on  in  the  world, 

Received  up  in  glory."    1  Tim.  3:16. 


66  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

''Affirmabant  autem  .  .  .  quod  essent  soliti  stato 
die  ante  lucem  eonvenire,  carmenque  Christo,  quasi 
Deo,  dicere  seeum  invieem. "  "  But  they  affirmed  .  .  . 
that  they  were  wont  to  meet  on  a  stated  day  before 
dawn  and  sing  together  antiphonally  a  song  to  Christ 
as  God."     Pliny's  letter  to  Trajan. 

Note. — At  each  of  the  Psalmody  conventions  a  paper  was  pre- 
sented devoted  to  the  exposition  of  the  passages  that  have  been 
the  subject  of  study  in  the  above  chapter.  While  neither  paper 
presents  anything  essentially  new,  yet  they  treat  the  text  so 
fully  and  freshly  that  they  deserve  some  consideration.  Avoid- 
ing repetition,  so  far  as  possible,  and  confining  attention  to 
the  salient  points  of  these  papers,  let  us  note  the  latest  ex- 
position of  these  passages  from  the  Psalm-singer's  standpoint. 

(A)  "Consulting  this  great  version  [the  Septuagint],  the 
most  cursory  reader  will  find,  first,  that  there  is  a  steady 
recurrence  of  these  three  designations,  'psalms,'  'hymns,'  and 
'songs,'  in  the  formal  titles  to  the  compositions  of  the  Psalter." 
The  Psalms  in  Worship,  pp.  138,  139. 

1.  The  writer  cites  Psalms  vi,  liv,  Iv,  Ixi,  Ixvii,  Ixxvi,  as 
having  "humnos"  (hymn)  as  its  title.  In  no  one  of  these 
Psalms  is  "humnos"  really  a  title.  It  is  part  of  the  phrase 
rendered  in  our  English  version,  "For  the  chief  musician,"  as 
any  one  can  see  for  himself  by  consulting  the  Septuagint. 

2.  As  the  writer  concedes — -p.  146 — there  are  two  "other  real 
titles"  in  the  Greek  Psalter  which  the  apostle  does  not  use. 
One  of  these,  he  says,  occurs  eighteen  times,  and  the  other  five 
times.  Why  did  not  the  apostle  use  "hallelujah"  instead  of 
"hymn,"  as  it  occurs  thrice  as  often  ? 

3.  Again  he  says:  "In  the  heading  of  the  Seventy-sixth  Psalm 
all  three  terms  stand  side  by  side,  just  as  here."  Let  us  see — 
for  many  of  our  brethren,  in  some  way,  make  substantially  the 
same  statement.  In  the  Septuagint  the  title  reads:  "Eis  to 
telos  en  humnois,  psalmos  to  Asaph,  odee  pros  ton  Assyrion." 
This  means,  the  Psalm  is  inscribed  to  the  chief  musician,  is 
by  Asaph  and  designed  to  be  rendered  with  instrumental  ac- 
companiment, and  is  a  song  whose  theme  is  the  Assyrian.    This 


PSALMODY  IN  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT.    67 

is  a  rubric  and  the  words  occur  in  an  altogether  different  rela- 
tion from  that  in  which  they  are  found  in  the  passages  under 
consideration. 

{B)  "Against  the  ascribing  of  these  three  terms  to  the 
Psalter  it  is  urged  that  'songs'  (odai)  has  an  attributive  in 
the  word  'spiritual'  (pneumatikai) ,  which  is  novel,  and  which 
forbids  dependence  on  the  Septuagint  in  the  exegesis  of  these 
passages.  It  is  not  psalms,  hymns,  and  'songs,'  we  are  told 
but  'psalms,  hj^mns,  and  spiritual  songs.'  The  objection  is 
plausible,  but  it  shrinks  to  the  vanishing  point  and  becomes  a 
verbal  quibble  when  tlie  context  in  Ephesians  is  noted."    P.  145. 

1.  This  is  the  second  time  we  have  found  this  word  "quibble" 
in  this  volume.  I  feel  tempted  to  characterize  such  designa- 
tion applied  to  a  serious  argument  of  an  opponent,  but  I  for- 
bear. 

2.  "Now,  what  is  the  import  of  the  word?  In  answer  to  this 
pivotal  question  we  affirm  that  the  Greek  original,  which  is 
'pneumatikos,'  has  no  such  latitude  of  meaning  as  'spiritual' 
has  in  English,  and  that  it  designates  commonly  whatever  is 
immediately  given  or  produced  by  the  Spirit  of  God.  It  is 
construed  thus  by  an  overwhelming  majority  of  critical 
authorities,  including  those  of  the  greatest  weight.  A  few 
special  citations  will  not  be  amiss."  P.  132.  Then  follow  the 
citations,  and  these  in  their  turn  are  followed  by  a  notable 
list  of  scholars  who  sustain  them.  Now,  in  regard  to  this,  we 
remark : 

(a)  The  writer  need  not  have  gone  to  so  much  pains  to 
prove  what  no  one  denies. 

(6)  Conceding  all  his  citations  assert,  his  argument  is 
helped  not  one  whit.  He  needs  to  prove  that  "spiritual"  means 
"inspired" — inspired  in  the  theological  sense  of  the  term.  This 
it  does  not  signify.  For  that  idea  Paul  uses  another  word — 
theopneustos.  I  give  herewith  citations  of  all  the  places  where 
the  word  occurs.  Every  reader  can  then  judge  for  himself. 
Rom.  1:11,  7:14,  15:27;  1  Cor.  2:13  (twice),  15,  3:1,  9:11, 
10:3,4  (twice),  12:1,  14:1,37,  15:44  (twice),  46  (twice); 
Gal.  6:1;  Eph.  1:3,  5:19,  6:12;  Col.  1:9,  3:16;  1  Pet.  2:5 
(twice). 


68  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

(C)  "In  these  verses  the  direction  given  is  not  to  prepare  or 
provide  songs  of  praise,  but  only  to  sing  them.  On  this  we 
must  be  permitted  to  insist."  P.  130.  And  our  brethren  do 
insist  upon  this.  Again  and  again  it  appears  in  this  volume; 
and  no  extended  defence  of  exclusive  Psalm-singing  fails  to 
make  it.  But  the  brethren  seem  to  forget  "that,  under  one  sin 
or  duty,  all  of  the  same  kind  are  forbidden  or  commanded; 
together  with  all  the  causes,  means,  occasions,  and  appear- 
ances thereof  and  provocations  thereunto."  Larger  Catechism, 
Question  99,  Section  6.  In  other  words,  an  end  being  enjoined, 
all  means  necessary  to  securing  it  are  authorized.  It  is  the 
principle  on  which  much  current  national  legislation  is  being 
enacted.  The  exhortation  then  warrants  the  use  of  "spiritual 
songs"  wherever  they  may  be  found,  and  the  making  of  them 
if  such  as  are  suitable  for  the  purpose  cannot  otherwise  be 
secured. 

(D)  "If  the  Psalms  of  Scripture  are  intended  by  the  word 
'psalms,  as  is  assumed  for  the  present,  it  is  quite  unthinkable 
that  Paul  would  link  human  compositions  with  those  of  the 
Spirit  of  God,  and  direct  that  they  be  used  for  the  same  end." 
P.  131. 

And  yet  in  this  same  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians — in  the  chap- 
ter next  preceding  the  one  in  which  the  passage  under  consid- 
eration is  found — Paul  writes:  "And  he  gave  some  to  be  apos- 
tles; and  some,  prophets;  and  some,  evangelists;  and  some, 
pastors  and  teachers:  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints."  Eph. 
4:  11,  12.  Here  apostles,  men  inspired,  infallible,  and  authorita- 
tive— a  unique  body  with  no  successors — and  prophets,  men  in- 
spired equally  with  tlie  apostles,  but  without  their  authority, 
are  joined  with  ordinary  uninspired  men  as  ministers  given  to 
the  church  by  Christ  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints.  If  ordi- 
nary, uninspired  men  could  be  "linked"  with  inspired  and  au- 
thoritative apostles  for  this  high  service,  is  it,  after  all,  really 
"unthinkable"  that  he  should  "link"  uninspired  songs  with 
authorized  psalms  and  inspired  hymns  as  means  to  be  used  by 
the  Ephesian  and  Colossian  Christians  for  their  mutual  in- 
struction and  admonition?  Does  it  not  rather  create  a  pre- 
sumption that  he  would?    Compare  Kev.  22:17. 


CHAPTER  V. 

PRACTICAL  PROBLEMS. 

What  place  has  song  among  the  agencies  of  the 
Christian  church?  That  it  has  some  place  all  freely 
concede.  Time  was  when  within  the  Reformed  church 
—at  least  in  some  localities— song  was  condemned,  and 
singing  in  religious  worship  was  forbidden.  But  that 
time  has  long  since  passed.  Everywhere  to-day  a 
place  is  not  only  accorded  to  song,  but  that  place  is 
magnified.  Our  brethren  themselves  concede  that  even 
songs  of  uninspired  men— "human  composures,"  as 
they  designate  them — have  their  place  in  devotional 
services.  "It  is,  moreover,  to  be  observed  that  the 
advocates  of  Scripture  Psalmody  do  not  object  abso- 
lutely to  the  use  of  uninspired  hymns  as  a  means  of 
exciting  and  expressing  pious  feeling ;  their  objection 
being  to  the  use  of  such  compositions  in  the  direct  and 
proper  worship  of  God,"  James  Harper  in  Schaff- 
Herzog  Encyclopedia,  s.  v.  Psalms.  Such  has  ever 
been  the  position  of  the  Psalm-singing  churches  of  this 
country.  The  position  first  found  formal  expression 
probably  in  "The  Overture"  issued  by  the  Associate 
Reformed  Synod  in  1787 ;  and,  so  far  as  known  to  the 
writer,  there  has  never  been  an  opposing  utterance. 

But  is  not  that  practically,  primarily  at  least,  just 
that  to  which  the  apostle  exhorts  in  those  passages 
which  were  under  consideration  in  the  preceding 
chapter  ? 


70  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

"The  exhortation  of  the  Apostle,  with  regard  to 
singing  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  does 
not  appear  to  refer,  primarily  at  least,  to  the  exercise 
of  praise  as  a  part  of  the  instituted  worship  of  God. 
It  has  particular  respect  to  the  conduct  of  the  disciples 
of  Christ  in  their  social  intercourse.  Whenever  they 
meet  together,  instead  of  indulging  in  idle  conversa- 
tion, or  engaging  in  such  recreations  as  might  exert 
a  corrupting  influence  over  the  mind,  they  should  con- 
stantly keep  in  view  mutual  edification.  Not  merely 
when  they  assemble  for  the  formal  worship  of  God,  but 
also  when  they  meet  to  enjoy  social  intercourse  and  to 
cultivate  the  social  affections,  all  communications  of  a 
demoralizing  tendency  should  be  carefully  avoided; 
and  their  'speech  should  be  always  with  grace,  sea- 
soned with  salt.'  And  as  music  exerts  a  powerful  in- 
fluence over  our  nature  in  subduing  the  passions,  in 
tranquillizing  the  mind,  and  in  elevating  and  purify- 
ing the  affections,  when  it  is  employed  in  connection 
with  proper  sentiments ;  let  it  be  cultivated  as  a  means 
of  rendering  our  social  intercourse  as  Christians  more 
pleasant  and  profitable.  'In  psalms  and  hymns  and 
spiritual  songs,  singing  with  grace  in  your  hearts  to 
the  Lord. '  It  is  indeed  true  that  in  singing  the  praise 
of  God  in  his  instituted  worship  our  great  concern 
should  be  to  sing  'with  grace  in  our  hearts  to  the  Lord.' 
But  we  must  not  forget  that  the  Christian  should 
have  reference  to  the  promotion  of  God's  glory  in 
everything  in  which  he  engages ;  not  merely  when  we 
are  engaged  in  the  formal  acts  of  religious  worship, 
but  when  pursuing  our  lawful  avocations;  when  cul- 
tivating social  intercourse,  and  enjoying  Christian 
recreation,  the  glory  of  God  and  mutual  edification 
should  be  kept  steadily  in  view  as  the  great  objects  at 
which  we  aim.  .  .  .  The  exhortation  ...  is  ad- 
dressed not  to  the  ministry  as  such,  but  to  the  differ- 
ent members  of  the  household  of  faith  generally ;  and 
this  exhortation  consequently  indicates  a  duty,  which 


PRACTICAL  PROBLEMS.  71 

is  not  peculiar  to  any  one  class,  but  is  common  to  all 
the  followers  of  Christ,  who  in  all  their  social  inter- 
course are  under  obligations  to  study  the  promotion 
of  their  mutual  edification.  And  it  has  further  been 
supposed  that  the  direction  here  given  by  the  Apostle 
with  regard  to  'singing'  does  not  relate  primarily  to 
the  exercise  of  praise  as  a  part  of  the  instituted  wor- 
ship of  God,  but  to  the  singing  of  sacred  songs  for 
mutual  edification  and  for  Christian  recreation.  And 
the  conclusion  to  which  this  view  of  the  subject  would 
lead  is,  that  if  Christians,  when  associated  for  mutual 
edification  and  Christian  recreation,  should  sing  such 
sacred  songs  as  are  adapted  to  excite  in  the  mind  just 
and  reverential  thoughts  of  God,  and  to  produce  and 
cherish  holy  affections,  much  more  should  they  em- 
ploy such  when  engaged  in  the  formal  exercise  of  sing- 
ing praise  to  God."  Dr.  Pressly  on  Psalmody,  pp. 
138-140. 

And  yet,  despite  all  this,  our  brethren  treat  these 
passages  as  canons  of  praise,  and  interpret  them  as 
restricting  the  songs  of  the  sanctuary  to  those  found 
in  the  Psalter;  or,  at  furthest,  to  those  found  in  the 
Bible.  Doing  so  the  question  naturally  arises,  how 
then  can  they  Scripturally  justify  their  concession 
that  sometimes  uninspired  hymns  may  be  legitimately 
sung  "as  a  means  of  exciting  and  expressing  pious 
feeling"  ?  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  do  find  it  difficult 
to  justify  the  concession ;  and  hence  dissuade  from  the 
use  of  uninspired  songs  on  all  religious  or  semi-re- 
ligious occasions. 

"In  regard  to  the  use  of  hymns,  an  inquiry  arises 
whether  songs,  such  as  those  which  are  often  prepared 
and  sung  on  anniversary  occasions,  may  be  consistently 
sung?    In  this  we  remark:    1.  That  were  Christians 


72  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION, 

agreed  in  reference  to  the  subject  in  the  aspect  in 
which  it  has  been  before  us— the  use  of  hymns  in  wor- 
ship—this inquiry  would  give  little  trouble.  If  such 
songs  were  used  at  all,  it  would  be  only  as  patriotic 
songs,  for  example,  are  sung  on  public  occasions,  or 
as  songs  are  sung  in  private  circles,  for  musical  recre- 
ation or  practice,  and  not  under  the  name  of  devotion 
at  all.  2.  Whether  they  are  so  sung,  generally,  in 
the  circumstances  to  which  we  allude,  we  cannot  tell. 
We  presume,  however,  that  in  many  cases  the  idea 
of  worship  does  not  present  itself  to  those  who  use 
them.  It  certainly  cannot,  in  instances  of  which  we 
have  seen  notices,  in  which  the  children,  and  perhaps 
the  adults  of  a  congregation,  unite  in  singing  a  song 
prepared  as  an  expression  of  their  welcome  to  a 
pastor ;  and  in  all  such  like  instances.  Still,  3.  Inas- 
much as  these  are  not  necessary ;  as  there  is  no  obliga- 
tion to  use  such  songs;  as  the  propriety  of  their  use 
may  be  often,  at  least,  doubtful ;  and  inasmuch  as 
these  are  associated  in  some  degree,  perhaps  largely, 
in  the  public  mind  with  the  use  of  hymns  in  the  wor- 
ship of  God,  and  may  be  regarded  as  such  worship, 
we  think  it  is  not  only  wisest  and  safest,  but  required 
of  us,  to  avoid  them."  True  Psalmody,  Appendix  D, 
pp.  238,  239. 

To  this  position  our  brethren  are  irresistibly,  though 
oftentimes  quite  reluctantly,  driven  by  their  concep- 
tion of  the  ordinance  of  praise.  That  conception  is 
thus  expressed  by  Dr.  Pressly : 

"Prayer  and  praise  agree  in  one  particular,  and 
that  is,  they  are  both  ordinances  of  religious  Avorship. 
But  in  almost  everything  else  they  differ. ' ' 

He  then  treats  of  these  differences  in  five  partic- 
ulars.   I  quote  only  the  first  one. 

"1,  In  prayer,  we  come  to  God  to  ask  for  those 


PRACTICAL  PROBLEMS.  73 

things  which  we  need ;  but  in  praise,  we  ascribe  to  him 
the  glory  which  is  due  unto  his  name.  As  our  situa- 
tion and  circumstances  are  ever  varying,  our  wants 
are  very  different  at  one  time  from  what  they  are 
at  another.  Our  petitions  must  consequently  be 
framed  in  accordance  with  our  wants.  But  God  is 
unchangeable,  and  his  praise  is  always  the  same." 
Dr.  Pressly  on  Psalmody,  pp.  120,  121.  Incorporated 
in  True  Psalmody,  pp.  126,  127. 

In  other  words,  an  unchangeable  God  necessitates 
unchangeable  praise.  Unchangeable  praise  demands 
unchangeable  expression.  Such  expression  having 
been  provided  must  be  exclusively  used.  The  logic  is 
remorseless ;  but  it  proceeds  from  a  false  assumption. 
While  adoration  is  indeed  the  distinctive  feature  of 
praise,  and  that  which  differentiates  it  from  preaching 
and  prayer,  yet  it  is  not  so  exclusively  the  character- 
istic of  the  ordinance  of  praise  as  absolutely  to  dom- 
inate it.  Praise  is  a  prophetic  rather  than  a  priestly 
function;  and  has  to  do  with  the  edification  of  the 
people  not  less  than  with  the  adoration  of  Jehovah. 
It  was  under  the  leadership  of  Moses  and  Miriam- 
prophet  and  prophetess— and  not  under  that  of  Aaron 
the  priest  that  Israel's  first  praise  service  was  held. 
It  was  Samuel  the  prophet  and  not  Eli  the  priest  who 
established  the  schools  of  the  prophets  and  taught 
psalmody  as  part  of  the  curriculum.  It  was  by  David 
the  prophet  and  not  Zadok  or  Abiathar,  the  contempo- 
rary high  priests,  that  the  service  of  song  was  intro- 
duced into  the  Temple  worship ;  and  when  introduced 
the  charge  of  it  was  given  not  to  the  priests  but  to 
the  Levites.  And  it  continued  to  be  their  charge  so 
long  as  the  Temple  stood. 


74  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

It  is  significant,  moreover,  that  in  the  arrangement 
of  the  musical  service  of  the  Temple  the  function 
of  the  Levitical  musicians  is  comprehensively  de- 
scribed as  prophesying.  1  Chron.  25 : 1-3.  It  is,  too, 
to  mutual  exhortation  and  not  to  united  adoration 
the  Christians  of  Ephesus  and  Colosse  are  exhorted 
in  the  passages  that  have  been  under  consideration. 
Nor  do  the  Psalms  themselves  bear  out  the  conception 
of  our  brethren.  They  are  by  no  means  all  exclusively 
praise  songs  in  the  sense  of  songs  of  adoration  of  God. 
Some  of  them  are  not  even  dominantly  such;  and  in 
one— the  88th— this  element  is  wholly  lacking.  No, 
the  ordinance  of  praise  requires  no  such  stereo- 
typed expression  as  the  conception  of  our  brethren 
makes  necessary.  Rather,  as  new  occasions  teach  new 
duties,  so  new  conditions  demand  new  songs.  It  is 
true  that  this  leads  to  frequent  changes  in  our  hymn 
books.  But  after  all  a  living  church  cannot  avoid 
the  changes  demanded  by  a  developing  life.  We  all 
have  a  Revised  Bible,  we  Presbyterians  a  revised  Con- 
fession of  Faith,  our  United  Presbyterian  brethren 
a  new  version  of  the  Psalms,  and  all  the  Psalm-sing- 
ing churches  collectively  have  just  completed  a  new 
metrical  version  of  the  Psalter. 

What  is  the  relation  of  uninspired  hymns  to  the 
unity  of  Christendom?  This  is  to-day  a  pressing 
question.  Consolidation,  in  religious  as  in  secular  af- 
fairs, is  the  tendency  of  the  day.  It  is  a  legitimate 
tendency;  and,  within  due  bounds,  ought  to  be  en- 
couraged. Is  the  use  of  uninspired  hymns  an  insu- 
perable barrier  to  the  union  of  Christendom?  Our 
brethren  believe  aod  teach  that  it  is. 


PRACTICAL  PROBLEMS.  75 

"Hymns,  such  as  we  oppose,  are  sectarian.  Every 
hymn-singing  denomination  has  its  own  hymn  book. 
There  is  a  Methodist  hymn  book,  a  Baptist  hymn  book, 
a  Congregational  hymn  book  or  books,  a  Presbyterian 
hymn  book  or  books,  a  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
hymn  book,  a  Universalist  hymn  book,  etc.,  etc.  This 
is  a  kind  of  necessity,  acknowledged  by  high  authority 
to  be  so.  We  refer  to  the  Biblical  Repertory  (Vol. 
XVIII.,  p.  505)  :  'The  Psalmody  of  the  Christian  as- 
sembly has  generally  partaken  largely  of  those  char- 
acteristics of  thought  and  expression  which  arise 
from  the  circumstances  of  the  people.  In  a  divided 
state  of  the  Cburch,  when  different  denominations 
are  zealous  for  their  respective  forms  of  doctrine  and 
worship,  the  lyric  poetry  becomes  strongly  argumenta- 
tive and  polemical;  addresses  men  rather  than  God; 
and  is  employed  to  defend  and  inculcate  theology,  and 
to  confirm  the  attachment  of  the  people  to  their  pe- 
culiar articles  of  faith.  Hence  each  sect  has  its 
Psalmody.  Both  policy  and  conscience  are  deemed  to 
require  the  hymns  to  coincide  in  sentiment  throughout 
with  the  creed  of  the  sect.  And  these  doctrines  are 
not  only  stated  in  poetical  language,  or  language  pro- 
fessedly poetical,  and  dwelt  upon  in  a  strain  of  devout 
meditation,  but  are  frequently  inculcated  in  a  sort  of 
metrical  argument,  and  appeal  to  persons  not  sup- 
posed to  believe  them.' 

"In  opposition  to  all  this  sectarian  perversion  of 
this  part  of  God 's  worship,  the  advocates  of  the  ex- 
clusive use  of  the  Scripture  Psalms  hold  large-minded 
and  catholic  views.  That  the  church  may  become 
one  in  her  visible  organization,  and  in  worship,  some 
at  least  of  their  hymn  books  must  be  sacrificed.  They 
cannot  all  remain.  Let  them  all  be  discarded,  that  the 
one  and  sufficient  book  of  Psalms  furnished  by  our 
Saviour  himself,  through  the  inspiring  influences  of 
His  Spirit,  may  be  alone  made  use  of  by  all  his  people 
in  the  holy  exercise  of  praise.    The  coming  unity  of 


76  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

the  church  will  abolish  these  uninspired  hymn  books, 
or,  at  least,  exclude  them  from  the  sacred  worship  of 
God."    True  Psalmody,  pp.  149-151. 

There  is  a  large  measure  of  truth  in  these  state- 
ments; and  yet,  for  the  purpose  for  which  they  are 
made,  they  are  almost  wholly  misleading.  They  en- 
tirely overlook  the  fact  that  the  great  body  of  all  these 
hymn  books  consists  of  hymns  written  by  authors  con- 
nected with  churches  other  than  the  one  publishing 
the  book.  There  lies  at  my  elbow  a  copy  of  The  New 
Laudes  Domini.  Its  index  of  authors  consists  of 
brief  biographical  sketches  of  the  writers  whose 
hymns  are  represented  in  the  collection.  There  are 
477  of  them.  Some  of  them  are  almost  or  quite  v/holly 
unknown,  but  some  450  are  definitely  described  as  to 
religious  connections.  Nearly  all  branches  of  Chris- 
tendom are  represented,  and  only  thirty-three  are 
Presbyterians.  And  yet  in  using  the  book  the  Pres- 
byterian does  not  lose  his  faith  in  a  Babel  of  hetero- 
doxy.   He  still  sings— 

*'I  know  that  my  Redeemer  lives, 
And  ever  prays  for  me. 
A  token  of  his  love  he  gives, 
A  pledge  of  liberty. 

' '  I  find  him  lifting  up  my  head ; 
He  brings  salvation  near; 
His  presence  makes  me  free  indeed, 
And  he  will  soon  appear. 

"He  wills  that  I  should  holy  be. 
What  can  withstand  his  will? 
The  counsel  of  his  grace  in  me 
He  surely  shall  fulfil. 


PRACTICAL  PROBLEMS.  77 

"Jesus,  I  hang  upon  thy  word; 
T  steadfastly  believe 
Thou  wilt  return,  and  claim  me,  Lord, 
And  to  thyself  receive." 

And  yet  it  is  Charles  Wesley,  the  sweet  singer  of 
Methodism,  who  furnishes  the  song.  And  what  is 
characteristic  of  this  collection  is  characteristic  of  all 
similar  ones.  In  all  the  standard  hymn  books  of  our 
land  and  day  the  various  branches  of  the  church  of 
Christ  meet  together.  There  are  hymns  by  Anglicans 
and  Dissenters,  Arminians  and  Calvinists,  Baptists 
and  Congregationalists,  Episcopalians  and  Presby- 
terians, Evangelicals  and  Liberals,  Lutherans  and 
Reformed,  Methodists  and  Moravians— Protestants 
and  Roman  Catholics.  All  Christian  creeds  and  all 
Christianized  nationalities  are  represented.  And  yet 
there  is  not  confusion.  Christian  heads  may  wrangle 
in  theological  strife,  but  Christian  hearts  beat  in 
unison  in  songs  of  devotion.  And  it  is  with  the  heart, 
and  not  with  the  head,  that  man  believeth  unto  right- 
eousness. In  fact  the  divisions  of  Christendom  are 
largely  lost  in  books  of  devotion.  The  Anglican  may 
close  the  door  of  his  pulpit  against  the  Nonconform- 
ist, but  he  admits  him  to  his  hymn  book.  The  Bap-, 
tist  may  refuse  his  Paedobaptist  brother  a  seat  with 
him  at  the  Lord's  table,  yet  he  welcomes  him  to  a  place 
beside  himself  in  his  hymnal.  The  Romanist  may  un- 
church his  Protestant  neighbors,  and,  in  the  utmost 
stretch  of  his  charity,  speak  of  them  as  his  "sep- 
arated brethren";  and  yet  he  fellowships  with  them 
in  the  songs  of  the  altar.  In  very  truth,  aside  from 
the  use  of  the  Scriptures,  there  is  to-day  nothing  else 


78  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

that  so  manifests  the  real  oneness  of  Christendom  as 
the  unity  of  its  hymnody— nowhere  else  is  the  com- 
munion of  saints  so  realized  as  in  the  songs  of  the 
sanctuary. 

And  yet  the  hymnals  of  the  day  are  not  ideal.  The 
ideal  Christian  hymnology,  as  Paul  presents  it,  is 
made  up  of  three  elements— psalms,  hymns  and 
spiritual  songs.  Our  modern  hymnals  abound  in  the 
two  latter  elements,  but  they  are  deficient  in  the 
former.  From  the  three  standard  hymn  books  at  the 
moment  in  my  library  which  have  an  index  of  Scrip- 
ture texts,  thirty-six  Psalms— almost  one-fourth  of 
the  Psalter— are  entirely  wanting.  But  it  is  not  sim- 
ply in  the  exclusion  of  particular  Psalms  that  modern 
hymnals  are  deficient.  Even  our  Psalm-singing 
brethren,  with  the  entire  Psalter  versified  and  their 
praise  confined  to  it,  in  actual  ordinary  use  confine 
themselves  to  a  relatively  small  portion  of  it.  It  is 
the  absence  of  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  the 
Psalter — characteristics  which  for  the  spiritual  man 
correspond  largely  to  iron  in  the  blood  for  the  physical 
—that  constitutes  the  most  glaring  deficiency  of  our 
modern  hymnody.^    And  hence  here  is  a  sphere  within 


'This  element  is  wanting  even  in  those  hymns  which  are 
nominally  based  upon  the  Psalms.  All  who  have  looked  at  all 
into  the  matter  know  that  the  relation  of  the  hymn  to  the 
Psalm  with  which  it  is  connected  in  the  index  is  of  the  slightest 
kind.  Thus,  in  preparing  this  statement,  I  found  that  the 
second  Psalm  was  included  in  one  of  these  hymnals.  Not 
recalling  a  version  of  that  Psalm,  I  turned  to  the  reference  to 
see  what  it  was,  and  found  it  was  Bishop  Heber's  familiar 
hymn,  "From  Greenland's  ley  Mountains."  That  is  an  excellent 
hymn,  but  hardly  a  version  of  the  second  Psalm. 


PRACTICAL  PROBLEMS.  79 

which  our  psalm-singing  brethren  can  exert  a  benef- 
icent influence  and  do  a  needed  and  excellent  work. 
The  hymnody  of  the  future  will  not  be  characterized 
by  displacement  of  uninspired  hymns  and  songs,  but 
by  enrichment  through  incorporation  of  the  virile 
songs  of  the  Psalter.  May  the  Lord  hasten  its  coming, 
and  may  our  Psalm-singing  brethren  co-operate  in  thus 
bringing  the  day  when  the  watchmen  of  Zion  shall 
lift  up  the  voice  and  with  the  voice  together  shall  sing. 

Supplemental  Note.  This  convention  volume  furnishes 
Psalm-singers  no  relief  from  the  restrictions  of  an  exclusively 
Davidic  Psalmody. 

{a)  The  exhortations  in  Ephesians  and  Colossians  still  refer 
to  worship.  True,  one  writer  says:  "The  hortatory  sections 
have  no  liturgical  intent.  They  are  not  rubrics,  but  constitute 
a  program  of  holy  living."  P.  152.  And  yet  throughout  his 
paper  he  treats  these  passages  as  referring  to  formal  worship. 

Another  writer  makes  specific  reference  to  the  point  and 
settles  it  thus:  "True,  the  question  has  been  raised  whether 
they  have  to  do  with  worship  at  all,  whether  Paul  is  not 
touching  merely  upon  the  intercourse  of  believers  in  their 
family  life,  at  their  love-feasts,  their  social  gatherings,  and 
other  meetings,  and  suggesting  mutual  edification  by  song.  On 
this  mooted  point  the  common  verdict  is  that  the  main,  though 
not  exclusive,  reference  is  to  the  stated  services  of  the  public 
assembly,  which  seem  to  have  been  of  a  free  and  elastic  nature." 
P.  128. 

( b )  Hymns  cannot  be  legitimately  used  in  any  public  service. 
"Even  if  we  concede  somewhat  of  good  to  the  use  of  'gospel 
hymns,'  those  who  stand  for  the  ordinance  of  praise  in  its 
purity  and  entirety,  as  we  do,  cannot  afford  to  use  them  in 
public  service,  because  (a)  they  take  the  actual  place  of  praise 
to  God,  .  .  .  (6)  we  cannot  afford  to  use  them  because  they 
would  take  the  place  of  Psalms  in  the  minds  of  the  unthinking. 
Inevitably  our  use  of  'gospel  hymns'  would  be  counted  praise 
and  an  abandonment  of  our  doctrine  of  Psalmody.    We  might 


80  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

explain  until  we  were  weary  the  difference  between  'praise'  and 
'singing  the  gospel,'  and  would  fail  of  popular  impression. 
The  pastor  who  allows  Kis  congregation  to  preach  the  gospel 
by  singing,  or  any  soloist  to  do  so,  thereby,  in  the  popular 
mind,  abandons  Scriptural  Psalmody."    Pp.  458,  459. 

(c)  The  volume  closes  with  two  papers  on  "The  Status  and 
Outlook  of  the  Cause  of  Psalmody."  These  papers  are  interest- 
ing as  revealing  the  hopes  of  our  brethren,  and  the  grounds 
upon  which  they  are  cherished.  I  will  not,  however,  traverse 
them.  I  will  only  say  that  while  I  myself  believe  that  a  larger 
use  of  the  Psalms  than  now  obtains  is  desirable  and  probable, 
yet  I  have  no  expectation  that  they  will  ever  again  be  the 
exclusive  manual  of  praise.  Our  brethren  take  too  much 
encouragement  from  statements  of  hymn- singers  which  they 
think  indicate  a  trend  toward  such  a  restoration. 

With  this  I  close.  There  has  been  no  attempt  to  traverse 
the  whole  of  this  latest  Psalmody  volume.  In  fact,  the  larger 
and  better  part  of  it  receives  here  no  notice.  This  is  so  for 
the  reason  that  it  is  the  smaller  part  of  the  volume  that  is 
controversial.  The  writer  has  personally  no  disposition  and 
controversially  no  occasion  to  disparage  the  Psalms,  to  dis- 
pute the  prevalence  of  their  use  in  past  ages,  to  question  the 
desirability  of  their  larger  use  in  these  later  times,  or  to  chal- 
lenge their  ethical  and  devotional  value.  Neither  disparage- 
ment of  the  ancient  Psalms  nor  laudation  of  modern  hymns 
has  any  place  in  these  pages.  This  little  book  is  true  to  its 
title.  It  is  an  examination  of  the  denominational  position  of 
our  brethren  on  the  subject  of  Psalmody.  And  it  is  believed 
that  this  work  shows  that  this  position  rests  on  assumptions 
that  are  unwarranted,  and  is  defended  by  arguments  which, 
though  specious,  are  fallacious.  And  this  again  explains  why 
it  is  that  our  brethren's  argument,  while  seemingly  so  con- 
clusive, yet  so  largely  fails  to  be  convincing. 


AUTHORITIES  QUOTED. 

When  the  purpose  to  write  this  little  work  was 
taking  definiteness  in  my  mind,  I  planned  to  collect, 
so  far  as  possible,  all  the  works— especially  on  the 
Psalm-singer's  side  of  the  question — that  had  been 
published  in  our  country  on  the  subject.  But  on 
reflection  the  plan  was  abandoned  as  involving  need- 
less expense  and  labor.  So  far  as  discovered  by  the 
writer,  the  argument  of  our  Psalm-singing  brethren  is 
always  substantially  the  same ;  and  varies  chiefly  in 
the  extent  and  mode  of  presentation.  Their  literature 
is  somewhat  like  the  newspapers  of  Nashville  during 
the  war,  as  I  once  heard  them  cried  on  the  streets  of 
that  city : 

Here's  the  Nashville  Union,  Citizen,  Press, 
Buy  the  one  and  you  read  the  rest. 

So  I  contented  myself  with  the  publications  on  the 
subject  already  in  my  library.    These  are  as  follows : 

1.  A  Preface,  Designed  to  Show  that  the  Biblical 
Psalms  Only  Are  Authorized  to  be  Sung  in  the 
Worship  of  God.  Philadelphia:  William  S. 
Young,  373  Race  Street.    1857. 

This  is  a  small  tract  of  fifty-eight  pages ;  and  yet  it 
is  a  very  succinct  statement  of  the  argument.  Al- 
though the  title  page  is  anonymous,  yet  the  running 
title  in  the  tract  is:  Dr.  Martin's  Preface  to  the 
Psalms,  I  suppose  that  the  writer  was  the  Rev.  James 
Martin,  D.D.,  pastor  of  a  church  in  Albany,  N.  Y., 


82  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

1824-1842,  six  years  editor  of  the  Religious  Monitor, 
and  professor  in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Cannons- 
burgh,  Pa.,  from  1842  till  his  death,  in  1846. 

2.  The  True  Psalmody;  or,  The  Bible  Psalms  the 
Church 's  Only  Manual  of  Praise.  Sixth  Edition. 
Pittsburgh:  United  Presbyterian  Board  of  Pub- 
lication.   Philadelphia :  William  S.  Young.    1870. 

This,  too,  is  an  anonymous  work.  It  was  prepared 
soon  after  the  formation  of  the  United  Presbyterian 
Church  in  1858  by  the  union  of  the  Associate  and  As- 
sociate Keformed  Churches.  It  was  written  by  a  com- 
mittee of  ministers  representative  of  their  constituent 
churches  residing  in  Philadelphia.  It  was  first  pub- 
lished in  1860.  The  fact  that  in  ten  years  it  reached 
a  sixth  edition  is  proof  of  its  popularity;  and  con- 
vincing proof  that  it  is  an  excellent  statement  of  the 
argument  of  our  brethren.  It  is  a  work  of  two  hun- 
dred and  forty-six  12mo  pages.  Its  character  is  well 
stated  by  itself  in  the  Introduction : 

' '  But  are  there  not  already  before  the  Church  able 
and  excellent  works  advocating  our  views  in  this  re- 
spect? There  are.  We  gratefully  acknowledge  the 
fact;  but  still  feel  ourselves  justified  in  adding  an- 
other volume  to  the  list.  These  works  are  now,  mostly, 
difficult  of  access,  because  chiefly  out  of  the  market; 
some  of  them  are  in  the  form  of  criticisms  upon 
essays,  etc.,  defending  human  compositions ;  some  are 
written,  and  wisely,  with  an  eye  to  local  circum- 
stances; all  have  their  peculiar  excellences,  which  we 
aim  at  combining,  as  far  as  possible,  in  one  volume. 

"In  this  last  remark  we  indicate  the  character  of 


AVTBORITIES  QUOTED.  83 

the  following  work— it  is  largely  a  compilation;  and 
we  have  made  free  use  of  the  remarks  of  Tholuck  in 
the  Introduction  to  his  Commentary  on  the  Psalms; 
and  have  quoted  on  some  points  largely  from  the 
works  of  Rev.  William  Sommerville  of  Nova  Scotia, 
of  Dr.  Pressly  of  Allegheny,  of  Mr.  Gordon  and  of 
Dr.  McMaster.  The  criticism  on  Col.  3 :  16  is  from 
the  pen  of  Dr.  Cooper  of  this  city.  In  all  cases  our 
quotations  are  distinguished  by  the  marks  usually 
employed,  while  throughout  we  have  introduced,  as 
was  judged  seasonable,  other  arguments  and  answers 
to  objections  not  noticed  or  fully  considered,  accord- 
ing to  our  views,  elsewhere;  and  also  the  necessary 
connecting  links;  for  these  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee is  chiefly  responsible."    Introduction,  pp.  x.,  xi. 

3.  A   Vindication   of    the    Position    of    the    United 

Presbyterian  Church  on  Communion,  Secret  So- 
cieties, Psalmody.     By  Rev.  J.  G.  Carson,  D.D. 
Pittsburgh :  United  Presbyterian  Board  of  Pub- 
lication, 53  and  55  Ninth  Street. 
This   is    a   very   small   bound   volume   containing 
United  Presbyterian  Tracts  Nos.  21,  24,  and  26.    The 
last  is  the  Psalmody  Tract  and  contains  forty-seven 
pages.    The  writer  has  for  many  years  been  a  professor 
in  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Xenia,  Ohio. 

4.  The  Ordinance  of  Praise;  or.   An  Argument  in 

Favor  of  the  Exclusive  Use  of  the  Book  of 
Psalms  in  Singing  Praises  to  God.  By  J.  Clay- 
baugh,  D.D.  Speaking  the  truth  in  love.  Third 
edition  with  additional  notes  and  an  appendix, 
Pittsburgh :  United  Presbyterian  Board  of  Pub- 
lication.   1864. 


84  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

This  is  a  small  paper-covered  booklet  of  fifty-six 
pages.  The  character  of  the  work  is  well  expressed 
in  the  Introduction  prefixed  by  the  Board  to  this  third 
edition : 

' '  The  substance  of  the  following  treatise  was  deliv- 
ered by  Dr.  Claybaugh  in  two  sermons  to  his  con- 
gregation in  Oxford,  Ohio.  It  was  then  prepared  by 
him  for  publication,  and  appeared  in  the  Christian 
Intelligencer.  As  the  demand  for  it  was  more  than 
could  be  supplied  by  that  periodical,  it  was  revised 
and  published  by  the  author  in  tract  form;  and  such 
was  the  demand  for  it  that  two  large  editions  were 
exhausted  in  a  few  years.  For  some  time  past  it  has 
been  out  of  print,  and  although  we  have  several  larger 
works  on  the  same  subject,  yet  it  is  believed  there  is 
need  for  some  brief  work  to  be  put  into  the  hands  of 
those  who  have  not  the  time  or  the  inclination  to 
read  a  lengthy  argument;  and  it  is  thought  that  we 
can  get  nothing  more  suitable  for  this  purpose  than 
this  tract.  It  possesses  two  qualities  essential  to  a 
work  of  controversy— strong  argument  and  mild 
language :  there  is  nothing  in  it  to  give  offence 
to  the  most  fastidious,  unless  a  strong  and  clear 
statement  of  the  truth  has,  unhappily,  this  effect. ' ' 

Dr.  Claybaugh  was  not  only  a  pastor ;  but  was  a 
professor  in  the  Associate  Reformed  Theological  Semi- 
nary at  Oxford,  Ohio,  from  1839  until  his  death,  in 
1855. 

5.  Musical  Instruments  in  Divine  Worship  Con- 
demned by  the  Word  of  God.  By  Rev.  D.  W. 
Collins,  D.D.    Pittsburgh,  1881. 


AUTHORITIES  QUOTED.  85 

This  and  the  following  work  have  been  quoted  for 
the  reason  that  the  Instrumental  Music  and  the  Psalm- 
ody questions  involve  substantially  the  same  line  of 
argument. 

6.  A  Counterblast  to  the  Organ;  or,  The  Lawfulness 

of  Using  Instrumental  Music  in  Worship  Dur- 
ing the  Present  Dispensation,  Discussed  and 
Denied  by  James  Harper,  Professor  of  Theology 
in  the  United  Presbyterian  Theological  Semi- 
nary, Xenia,  Ohio.    New  York,  1881. 

7.  Psalmody :  An  Examination  of  Authority  for  Mak- 

ing Uninspired  Songs  and  for  Using  Them  in  the 
Formal  Worship  of  God.  By  J.  B.  Johnston, 
Pastor  United  Presbyterian  Church,  St.  Clairs- 
ville,  Ohio.  "But  in  vain  do  they  worship  me, 
teaching  for  doctrine  the  commandments  of 
men."  Matt.  15:9.  St.  Clairsville,  Ohio:  John 
Stuart.    1871. 

Dr.  Johnston  was  of  Covenanter  parentage  and 
training,  and  for  twenty-four  years  from  ordination 
adopted  by  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  1781.  The  book 
work  is  a  unique  one,  both  as  to  position  maintained 
and  argument  presented.  Although  it  advocates  the 
legitimacy  of  the  use  in  worship  of  a  lyrical  render- 
ing of  any  suitable  portion  of  Scripture,  yet,  so  far 
as  I  recall,  there  is  no  reference  to  "The  Paraphrases" 
adopted  by  the  Church  of  Scotland  in  1781.  The 
book  is  a  volume  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  pages ; 
and  at  the  time  of  its  publication  received  extended 
and  kindly  editorial  notice  in  the  United  Presbyterian 
from  Dr.  David  R.  Kerr.    And  the  suggestive  fact  is 


86  THE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

that,  so  far  as  I  recall,  it  met  with  no  criticism  as  a 
misrepresentation  of  the  United  Presbyterian  position. 

8.  Keview  of  Ralston 's  Inquiry  into  the  Propriety 

of  Using  an  Evangelical  Psalmody  in  the  Wor- 
ship of  God.  Second  edition.  Enlarged  by  two 
additional  chapters,  embracing  A  Critical  Analy- 
sis of  Col.  3 :  16, 17,  and  The  Modern  History  of 
Psalmody.  By  John  T.  Pressly,  D.D.  Alle- 
gheny, 1848. 

This  is  a  volume  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  pages. 
Dr.  Pressly  was  one  of  the  most  prominent  ministers 
in  the  United  Presbyterian  Church.  He  was  born  and 
reared  and  began  his  ministry  in  South  Carolina.  But 
having  been  elected  professor  of  Theology  in  the  Asso- 
ciate Reformed  Theological  Seminary  at  Allegheny, 
Pa.,  he  entered  upon  his  work  as  such  in  January, 
1832.  In  August,  1833,  he  was  installed  pastor  of  the 
First  Church,  Allegheny,  and  continued  as  pastor  and 
professor  until  his  death  in  August,  1870. 

9.  The  Inspired  Psalmody.    Published  By  Request,  by 

William  J.   Reid,    pastor  of  the   First  United 
Presbyterian    Church,    Pittsburgh,    Pa.      Pitts- 
burgh :  United  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publica- 
tion, 1872. 
This  tract  of  eighteen  pages  is  a  sermon  preached  in 
the  First  United  Presbyterian   Church,   Pittsburgh, 
Pa.,  November  19,  1871,  on  the  occasion  of  introducing 
the  Revised  Version  of  the  Psalms.    Dr.  Reid  was  for 
many  years  Stated  Clerk  of  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  United  Presbyterian  Church. 

10.  The  Psalms  in  Worship ;  A  Series  of  Couveution 


AUTHORITIES  QUOTED.  87 

Papers  Bearing  Upon  the  Place  of  the  Psalms 
in  the  Worship  of  the  Church.  Edited  by  John 
McNaugher,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Professor  of  New 
Testament  Literature  and  Criticism  in  the  Alle- 
gheny Theological  Seminary.  Pittsburgh :  The 
United  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication,  1907. 

This  is  the  latest  and  by  far  the  largest  and  most 
imposing  volume  issued  by  our  brethren  on  the  Psalm- 
ody question.    And  yet  I  doubt  if  it  is  to  prove  to  be 
their  most   effective   publication.     The  volume   was 
issued  in  May.    These  notes  are  being  written  the  last 
day  of  October,  and  yet  I  have  seen  but  two  refer- 
ences to  the  book.     These  were  by  correspondents  of 
the  Associate  Reformed  Presbyterian  of  Due  West, 
S.  C.     And  one  of  these  correspondents  was  myself. 
In  the  first  place,  the  work  is  too  voluminous.    As  the 
work  consists   of  fifty-four  papers  on  twenty-seven 
topics  by  fifty-four  writers,  there  is  naturally  and 
necessarily  much  substantial   repetition.     And  then 
the  work  is  not  altogether  harmonious. 
11.  The  Temple,  Its  Ministry  and  Services  as  they 
Were  at  the  Time  of  Jesus  Christ.    By  the  Rev. 
Dr.   Edersheim,   author  of   Sketches  of  Jewish 
Social  Life  at  the  Time  of  Christ,  The  Bible  His- 
tory, etc.    Novum  Testamentum  in  Vetere  latet; 
vetus    in    novo    patet.      New    edition,    revised. 
Fleming  H.  Revell  Company. 

Dr.  Edersheim  was  a  converted  Jew ;  and  at  the  time 
of  his  death  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England. 
As  there  is  some  manifestation  of  a  disposition  on  the 
part  of  one  of  the  writers  in  The  Psalms  in  Worship 


88  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

to  exalt  Lightfoot  to  the  disparagement  of  Edersheim, 
I  quote  a  paragraph  from  the  introduction  of  the  lat- 
ter. "  Lightfoot 's  'HorfE  Hebraicae  et  Talmudicae'  are 
known  to  every  scholar.  Not  so,  perhaps,  his  small 
learned  treatise  'De  Ministerio  templi.'  The  title  and 
many  of  the  subjects  are  similar  to  those  treated  in 
the  present  volume.  But  the  learned  reader  will  at 
once  perceive  that  the  plan  and  execution  are  quite 
different,  though  the  work  has  been  of  great  service  to 
me.  .  .  .  This  only  would  I  ask  the  reader  to  believe : 
that  while  this  book  embodies  the  studies  of  many 
years,  I  have  during  its  actual  composition  deemed  no 
labor  nor  pains  irksome  in  comparing  the  results  of  my 
own  investigations  with  those  of  all,  within  reach, 
who  were  entitled  to  such  consideration." 

It  is  not  necessary  to  write  of  other  authorities  I 
have  used.  The  above  are  those  specially  related  to 
this  controversy. 

Saving  the  World:  What  it  Involves  and  How  it  is 
Being  Accomplished.  By  Rev.  David  Findley 
Bonner,  A.M.,  D.D.  Cloth,  12mo,  pp.  259.  $1.00. 
Hanford  &  Horton,  Middletown,  N.  Y. 

"The  author  .  .  .  has  given  us  in  this  modest 
volume  a  series  of  sixteen  sermons  which  he  delivered 
to  his  congregation.  These  sermons  are  arranged  un- 
der six  divisions,  which  are  specified  as  'The  Saved,' 
'The  Salvation,'  'The  Saviour,'  'The  Saving,'  'The 
Consummation,'  and  'The  Obligation.'  Three  in- 
dexes are  appended,  one  on  subjects,  a  second  on 
authors,  and  a  third  on  texts.  These  sermons  are 
scriptural,  scholarly,  and  suggestive.  They  represent 
maturity  of  thought,  breadth  of  study,  and  depth  of 
experience.     .     .     .     We  commend  thio  volume  to  all 


AUTHORITIES  QUOTED.  89 

who  would  obtain  a  discriminating  knowledge  upon 
the  subjects  here  so  ably  Tpresented."— Presbyterian 
Journal. 

"The  volume  ...  is  a  series  of  seventeen  ser- 
mons, printed  essentially  as  preached  to  his  own  peo- 
ple, and  setting  forth  the  great  truths  as  to  the  Gospel 
as  a  practical  power  under  God  in  operation  for  the 
salvation  of  the  world,  A  Calvinist,  as  he  is,  believing 
in  the  statements  and  the  philosophy  ordinarily  em- 
bodied in  the  Calvinistic  system,  he  believes,  as  he 
must,  in  that  conception  of  the  Gospel  which  presses 
Christ's  claims  on  every  individual  who  hears  the 
truth  and  leaves  him  absolutely  without  excuse  in  case 
he  persists  in  unbelief.  While  not  a  work  on  theology, 
no  one  but  a  thoroughly  trained  theologian  could  have 
written  it.  While  not  a  formal  history  of  redemption, 
it  sets  forth  the  great  truths  as  only  one  could  who 
has  made  a  thorough  study  of  the  scheme  and  doc- 
trines of  redemption  as  set  forth  in  the  Word  of 
God."— Herald  and  Presbyter. 

' '  The  content  of  this  book  harmonizes  perfectly  with 
its  title.  And  yet  a  word  of  explanation  is  needed, 
for  the  title  is  not  entirely  lucid.  'Saving  the  World' 
does  not  mean  the  mere  human  method  of  evangelizing 
the  unevangelized,  and  thus  bringing  salvation  to  indi- 
vidual souls.  It  means  rather  the  saving  of  the  world 
by  a  divine  purpose  and  plan.  Accordingly,  the  book 
includes  sections  treating  of  the  nature  of  sin,  the 
wrath  of  God,  the  person  of  Christ,  His  work  as  a 
Saviour,  and  the  benefits  of  salvation  in  this  life  and 
in  that  which  is  to  come.  Thus  the  author  explains 
upon  biblical  grounds  the  nature  of  propitiation, 
reconciliation,  evangelization,  regeneration,  and  sanc- 
tification.  The  whole  plan  of  the  book  is  conceived  in 
the  popular  style  and  written  simply  and  clearly." — 
The  Interior. 

' '  Sobriety,  clearness,  scholarship,  and  richness  char- 
acterize these  Bible  studies.  The  author  .  .  .  knows 
other  men's  views  and  has  some  of  his  own  which  he 


90  TEE  PSALMODY  QUESTION. 

offers  with  modesty  and  with  appeal  to  the  Scriptures 
only.  .  .  .  The  book  uses  no  technical  terms  .  .  .  and 
has  no  contagious  disease  of  doubt,  but  a  wealth  of 
strong,  sensible,  tender,  and  moving  Bible  teach- 
ing."— New  York  Observer. 

"It  is  a  book  of  sermons,  but  instead  of  being  dry 
reading  for  the  ordinary  reader,  as  such  works  often 
are,  it  will  be  found  deeply  interesting  from  first  to 
last  because  it  deals  in  a  practical  way  with  matters 
which  touch  the  life,  present  and  future,  of  every  man 
and  woman. "—Middletown  (N,  Y.)  Press. 

"  'Saving  the  World'  is  a  series  of  popular  sermons 
on  the  subject  of  Soteriology.  The  arrangement  is 
systematic,  the  treatment  sufficiently  full,  the  illustra- 
tions illuminating.  The  author  is  a  careful  expositor 
and  an  independent  thinker ;  and  while  in  the  main  he 
has  followed  the  old  lines,  his  handling  of  the  subject 
is  fresh  and  simple  and  vigorous.  The  thoughtful 
layman  will  find  in  this  book  an  intelligible  and  inter- 
esting discussion  of  the  great  central  truths  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  will  gain  incidentally  a  clue  to  the  right 
interpretation  of  Scripture  passages.  To  the  minister, 
these  sermons,  besides  helping  to  clarify  his  thought 
on  some  difficult  points,  will  afford  a  fine  example  of 
systematic,  educational  preaching."— Rev. Edward  W. 
Miller,  D.I).,  Professor  in  Auburn  Seminary. 

"I  have  read  your  book— some  of  the  sermons  I  have 
read  more  than  once.  The  sermons  I  consider  of  a 
high  order.  There  is  in  them  a  happy  union  of  in- 
tellectuality and  spirituality.  Either  one  of  these 
qualities  would  make  a  volume  of  sermons  precious; 
to  write  a  book  which  in  a  marked  degree  is  a  meet- 
ing-place for  the  two  is  not  an  every-day  accomplish- 
ment; and  you  are  to  be  congratulated  in  that  you 
have  done  this.  The  popular  conception  of  sermonic 
literature  is,  as  you  know,  not  high,  and  while  many 
such  popular  conceptions  are  often  based  on  ignorance 
of  the  subject,  yet  I  think  there  is  justification  for 


AUTHORITIES  QUOTED.  91 

it  in  part,  as  so  many  weak  discourses  are  published 
in  these  days  {vide,  the  Monday  issue  of  the  news- 
papers of  any  of  our  large  cities).  Yet  Sir  James 
Stephen,  a  rare  judge,  gave  it  as  his  deliberate  opinion 
some  time  ago  that  he  knew  of  no  species  of  literature 
where  a  truly  intellectual  man  would  find  more  real 
satisfaction  than  can  be  found  in  pulpit  discourse. 
The  sermon  on  '  The  End, '  p.  207,  is  very  able.  There 
is  much  in  it  that  has  marked  freshness,  and  yet  it  is 
biblical  throughout. 

"I  have  had  a  great  deal  of  enjoyment  from  the 
sermons  on  'Reconciliation'  and  'Evangelization.' 
In  the  perusal  of  them,  Stephen's  remark  has  often 
occurred  to  me.  Your  thinking  throughout  the  vol- 
ume is  consecutive,  exact,  and  scriptural.  This, 
though,  I  would  expect  from  you."— From  letter  to 
the  author  from  the  late  Rev.  Thomas  B.  Thomas, 
D.D.,  Pastor-elect  Welsh  Presbyterian  Church,  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 


INDEXES 

Authors. 


Carson,    Rev.    James    G., 

D.D 11,28 

Claybaugh,    Rev.    Joseph 

D.D 11,  17,  25,  28,  43 

Collins,    Rev.   David    W., 

D.D 12,  15 

Cooper,   Rev.    Joseph    T., 

D.D 49,50,65 

Edersheim,    Rev.    Alfred, 

D.D 34,37,58,61 

Gieseler,  Rev.  John,  C.L., 

D.D 62,  63 

Harper,  Rev.  James,  D.D. 

7,11,16,70 
Johnston,  Rev.  John   B., 

D.D 8,24,38,47,49,51 

Lightfoot,      Rev.      John, 

D.D 37 


PAGE 

27 
59 


30 


59 


Martin,  Rev.  James,  D.D. 
Moll,  Rev.  Carl  B.,  D.D. .  . 
Murphy,  Rev.  James  G., 

LL.D 

Osgood,      Rev.      Howard, 

D.D 

Pliny,  the  Younger 67 

Pressly,    Rev.    John    T., 

D.D 8,10,27,31,42,54, 

62,  72,  73,  74 
Reid,    Rev.    William    J., 

D.D 28,  43 

Spurgeon,  Rev.  Charles  H. 

54,55 
Watts,  Rev.  Isaac,  D.D. . .  5 
Winer,    Rev.    George    B., 

D.D 62 

Zunz,  Leopold 59 


Authors  of  Papers  in  the  Psalms  in  Worship 
WHICH  ARE  Quoted 


Grier,    Prof.    James    A., 

D.D.,  LL.D 19,81 

Kennedy,  Rev.  James  A., 

D.D 18 

MeClenahan,  Prof.  D.  A., 

D.D 30,34-39 

McClure,  Rev.  William  S., 

D.D 37 


McNaugher,  Prof.  John 
D.,   LL.D 67-69,   80 

Moorehead,  Prof.  William 
G.,  D.D.,  LL.D 19 

Wishart,  Rev.  W.  I., 
D.D 39 

Work,  Prof.  J.  B.,  D.D. .     80 


94 


INDEXES. 


Authorities. 


PAGE 

An  Authorized  Psalmody  11,28 

A  Preface 27 

Catechism    { Westminster, 

Larger)    12,69 

Commentary  on  the  Book 

of  Psalms  (Murphy)..      30 
Confession       of       Faith 

(Westminster)    9 

Counterblast   to   the  Or- 
gan   11,  16 

Dictionary  of  the   Bible, 

Davis    13 

Dictionary   of  the   Bible, 

Hastings    13 

Dictionary  of  the  Bible, 

Smith  13 

Gieseler's      Ecclesiastical 

History 62 

Lange's  Commentary ....  60 
Lardner's  Credibility ....  62 
Laudes  Domini,  New. ...  77 
Musical    Instruments    in 

Divine  Worship 12,  15 

Psalmody,   Johnston 

8,  24,  38,  47,  50 


Dr.  Pressly  on  Psalmody 

8,  10,  27,  32,  42,  54, 
64,  72,  74 
Schaff-Herzog       Encyclo- 
pedia   7,  70 

The  Septuagint 

41,  42,  43,  44,  48,  67 
The  Inspired  Psalmody  28,43 
The  Ordinance  of  Praise 

11,  17,  25,  28,  43 
The  Psalms  in  Worship 

18,  19,  30,  34-39,  67,  68, 
69,  80,  81 
The    Life    and    Times    of 

Jesus  (Edersheim)..  .  .  61 
The  Temple  (Edersheim)  61 
The       Temple        Service 

(Lightfoot)     37 

The  True  Psalmody 

18,  27,  49,  54,  65,  73,  74,  77 

Treasury  of  David 55 

United  Presbyterian  Tes- 
timony           6 

Winer's    New    Testament 
Grammar 62 


Subjects. 


Aaron 74 

Abiathar   74 

Abihu 22 

Amazing  statement 19 

Assumption.  .18,  19,  32,  74,  81 

Atonement 21 

Authorities,  Extra  bibli- 
cal    33 


Authorized  Psalmody 

38,  40-45 

Bacchanalian    42,  65 

Barak 27 

Bar  to  fellowship 1 

Basis  of  fellowship 4 

Bible  songs 7 

Bishop  Heber 79 


INDEXES. 


95 


PAGE 

Bithynia 62,  64 

Book  of  Psalms 

17,  24,   25,   26,   27,   28,   32, 
43,  44,  58 

Caesarea 53 

Calvin,  John 35 

Canon,  The 16,  28,  29,  33 

Canon  of  praise 72 

Catechism  (The  Larger) 

12,  69 

Chassidim 58 

Cheyne,  T.  K 31 

Christian     Reformed 

Church 3 

Churches,    Psalm- singing 

3,  38,  75 

Circumlocution 44 

Common  faith 9,  24 

Confession  of  Faith 9,  11 

Conflicting  teaching 

15,  36,  37,  39 
Conflicting  teaching.  Key 

to    16 

Congregationalists 5 

Conventions,  Psalmody 

34,  67,   80 

Cornelius 52 

Crux  of  question 34 

Deborah 27 

Difference,  Divisive 1,  2 

"  Unjustifiable..       2 

Divine  appointment 

9,  11,  20,  21,  26 
"       commands,    inter- 
pretation        12 

will 2,21 

Edwards,  Jonathan 26 


PAGB 

Eldad 22 

Elements  of  worship....  21 
Evangelical  psalmody . .  .  52-56 
Explaining  the  Psalm. . .       6 

Ezra 25,28 

Feasts,  Jewish 13 

"         Dedication 13, 14 

"         Passover    14,  33 

"         Pentecost 13 

"         Purim    13 

"        Tabernacles. .  13,  58,  59 
Fourth  Commandment. . .     14 

Gospel  hymns 80 

"        Singing  the 80 

Habakkuk 28,  31,  36,  37 

Hallel 33 

Hezekiah 14,  30 

Hopes  of  Psalm  singers. .     81 

Hymnals    79 

Hymns,  Authorship  of . . .     77 
"        Fellowship   in 

singing 77 

Gospel 80 

Making. 47,  60,  65,  69 

"        Sectarian 76 

"        U  s  e  o  f  legiti- 
mate  70,72,73 

"        Use  of  inexpedi- 
ent  72,  80 

Hymnology 52,  79 

Hymn  singers 1,  20 

"      Position  of  6,  52 

Human  composures. .  24,  36,  70 

Indefinite  position..  .6,  7,  8,  50 

Inspired. .  .7,  18,  38,  48,  56,  68 

"        Psalmody 

36,  38, 46-51 


96 


INDEXES. 


PAGB 

Instrumental  music. 23,  59,  61 

Josiah 31 

Judas  Maccabeus 13 

Laws  of  worship 37 

Levites 34,  74 

Little  mite 36,  37 

Making  hymns. .  .47,  60,  65,  69 

Medad 22 

Men  of  deed 58 

Miriam 74 

Moses 15,  36, 74 

Nadab 22 

New  wine 51 

Nomenclature 44,  56 

Obligatory 12,  14,  15, 16 

Ordinance  of  praise 

16, 17, 18,  20,  54,  74,  80 

Ordinances  worship 15, 16 

Osgood,    Rev.    Howard, 

D.D 59 

Overture,  The 70 

Paraphrases,  The 37,  38 

Pentateuch 44 

Personal  experience 4,  38 

"         incident 59 

Plantation  melodies 65 

Praise 19,  54,  74 

Manual  of 19 

"      Ordinance  of.     See 
above. 

"      Purpose  of 54,  55 

"       What  is 18,19,20 

Prayer   54,  74,  75 

Priests 21,22,74 

Prophets 21,22,74 

Prophesying   75 

Psalmody. .  .22,  23,  40,  59,  81 


PAGB 

Psalmody  Conventions 

34,  67,  80 
"      Davidic     or     au- 
thorized 

5,  6,  34,  38,  40-45,  80 
"       Scripture   or    in- 
spired    5,  7,  8,  36, 
38,  46-51,  70 
"      Scriptural     or 

evangelical  6,  52-56 
"       systems    1,  5,  6,  40,  52 
"      in    United    Pres- 
byterian Church 

2,  6,  25 
Psalter,  Compilation  of 

25, 26,  27,  28,  29,  35 
"  Composite. .  29,  30,  35 
"       Manual  of  praise 

6,  27,  28,  29,  38,  39 
Psalm,  Explaining  of . . . .       6 
"      titles 

41,42,43,48,54,56,67 
"      titles  of  the  76th 

psalm 41 

Question,  Psalmody 5 

Crux   of 34 

"         Point   of 

12,  24,  25,  34 
Settlement  of..      4 

Quibble 36,38,68 

Ritual 22,23 

Rubric    68,  80 

Septuagint.  .28,  41,  42,  43,  44, 

45,  48,  67 

Seventy-sixth  psalm. . .  .41,  67 

Singing  in  course 6,  7 

the  Gospel 81 


INDEXES. 


97 


PAGE 

Spiritual... 22,  23,  41,  42,  44, 
48,  51,  56,  57,  68 

Strife  of  words 20 

Synagogue 28,  34 

Temple  song  service 

33,  36,  39,  66,  74 

Uzziah   23 

Unthinkable  linking 69 

Unhappy  argumentation  36,  68 
Versions    of    the    Bible 

American 20 

British 20 


PAQB 

American  Bible  Union.     20 

V  oluntary    15, 16 

Watts,  Isaac,  D.D 5 

Wesley,  Charles 78 

Word  of  Christ 49,  53,  66 

Worship,  Acceptable 21 

"  Basis  of 21 

"  Elements  of .  . .     21 

"  Laws  of 11,37 

"         Ordinances  of  15,  16 
Zadok 74 


Scripture  Texts. 


Exodus  15:  1 34 

20:  24,25 10 

25:  2 14 

35:  29   14 

36:  3   14 

Levit.   10:  1-3 22 

23:  38    15 

Num.  II:  16-30 22 

Deut.  16:  16,  17 13,15 

"      32 :  1    34 

ISam.  1:7 13 

2    "      22:1 27 

IChron.  6:  31,49 23 

"      "        16:9 20 

"      "        21:1 27 

"      "       25:1-3 75 

"      "       26:16-21 23 

2      "        29:25-30 23 

"      "        29:30 30 

Psalms  14:  1 54 

"      18:1 27 

"      39:9 42 

"      53 :  1 30 

"      70:  1   30 


Psalms  72 :  20 42 

"      76:1 41,67 

"      82 :  1 55 

"      92:1 33 

"      96:1 27 

"      105:1-15 27 

"      105:2 20 

"      113-118 31 

"      120-134 42 

Isa.  38:  20 23,30 

Hab.  3:  19 31 

Matt.  12:  7 12 

"     26:30 19,33 

Mark  14:  7 12 

"      14:26 19 

Luke  2:  13,20 19 

"      19:37 19 

"      20:42 44 

"      24:53 19 

John  7 :  37 14 

"      8:   12 14 

"      10:22 13 

Acts  2:  47 19 


98 


INDEXES. 


FA6B 

Acts  3:  8,  9 19 

"    10:  34-43 53 

"    10:  36-38 66 

"    13:33,35 44 

"     16:25 19 


Rom.  15:  11.. 

"      15:27.. 

ICor.   3:  1... 

Gal.  6:  1 

Eph.  4:  11,  12. 


19 
57 
57 
57 
69 


Eph.  5:  18-20. 
"  6:12.... 
Col.  3:  16.... 
ITim.  3:  16.. 
Heb.  2:12.... 
1  Pet.  1 :  12-25 
James  5:  13. . 
Rev.  19:  5.... 
Rev.  22:  17... 
1  Mae.  4:52-59 


PA6B 

.40,  42 

...  57 

.40,42,68 

,62,66 

19 

54 

,19,31 

19 

69 

13 


Theological  Seminary- Speer  Library 


1    1012  01126  4498 


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